


Outsider Chronicles: Empress of Escalation

by DisLexic



Category: Highschool DxD (Anime), Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2020-08-20 23:48:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20236387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisLexic/pseuds/DisLexic
Summary: Isekai. A Genre I love to bits and one of the few that I would quite happily jump into with both feet. However, I don't care what kind of god killing powers I get out of it, finding myself as Taylor Hebert following a close encounter with the back of a locker is NOT what I had in mind!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, I guess it was inevitable for me to do this eventually! Of course, this is a little different from normal since our Outsider gets knocked loose later in life than at birth, which means that she’ll have to deal with Taylor’s past decisions. To be clear, this isn't the Outsider character replacing Taylor, its just the Outsider character regaining the memories of who she used to be. Enjoy!

The sound of regular beeps guided me slowly from the dark depths of slumber. I groaned softly as the darkness slowly seeped away and my body began to inform my brain that it ached. It was a deep, agonizing ache unlike anything I’d ever felt before and seemed to go right down to my bones.

_ “Hurrh, where am I?” _I thought as I tried to open my eyes.

It took some doing since it felt like someone had superglued my eyelids shut, but I eventually managed it and found myself looking up at a white ceiling. I looked around as best I could without moving my head. It took a moment for what I saw to properly register in my sluggish brain, but eventually I realized I was in a hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines and tubes attached to me. I sighed. That made sense, I had just been hit by a car/locked in my locker with half a ton of crap…

Wait, WHAT?!

It was at that point that I suddenly realized I had two sets of memories. One belonged to a perfectly normal British man that ended abruptly with a pair of very bright lights and the sound of a trucks horn and the other of a slightly less normal American girl which ended with her screaming herself horse locked in a locker full of used female hygiene products. But...I wasn't either of them. The memories didn't clash or mix, it was more like the older ones had always been there and had been brought out by a solid whack to the head when getting pushed into the Locker.

Now that I think about it, I think I read a few Isekai that started like that…

I shook that thought off as best I could when I could hardly move and refocused on trying to figure out who the actual fuck I was and what I should do now. On the surface it was obvious, do whatever I could to deal with the Bitches Three and do my best to survive. The problem was, the part of me that was still Taylor balked heavily at the idea. It meant telling Dad and he had enough to deal with and it's not like anyone would do anything anyway and…

I groaned and draped an arm over my face. While the two sides of who I was weren't technically separate, the outlooks of Taylor Hebert, bullied teenage girl and...huh, I couldn't remember my old name...whatever, whoever I used to be, an adult man, if fairly young, were clashing and would likely cause me no end of headaches in the future.

It was at that point that a nurse arrived and I was denied the chance to think until they were done with their tests and left me alone, with the message that Panacea would be around shortly to make sure I didn't have anything nasty lurking in my body, ready to give me a nasty surprise.

Alone once again, I turned my attention to the other potential sticking point. Whether or not I’d Triggered in the locker. It was pretty obvious that I didn't have my canon power (and wasn't that a rather unpleasant revelation, to catch a glimpse of the utter clusterfuck my life could have been) since I couldn't sense the presence of the bugs I knew had to be nearby. On one hand, that was good since it meant I couldn't become Khepri, on the other, I really hoped that gaining my past lifes memories hadn’t replaced a Trigger Event. While being a Cape could be dangerous and my past life knowledge had put quite the damper on the ideals I used to have about Capes, that didn't change the thrill of joy I had at the idea of possible being able to fulfil the old dreams of being a Cape.

However, I couldn’t feel anything different. While its true that I had no idea how having powers would feel, there should be something, right? After a moment's thought, I sat up, crossed my legs and closed my eyes. While I had no idea what I was doing, I took the advice of all Anime mentors teaching the protagonist how to access unknown powers and did my best to look deep inside to draw out my hidden power. I somehow doubted it’d work, but it was worth a shot.

It didn't take long sitting like that for my legs to start to hurt, making me shift and breaking what little concentration I’d been able to muster. I gritted my teeth and shoved my discomfort aside, determined to at least try to see if this could work. Unfortunately, all I got for my efforts was sore legs and a mild headache from focusing so hard.

Finally, I gave up and flopped back down onto the bed.

“Well, that didn't work,” I said, “I wonder if I even have powers…”

I lifted my arm and stared at my hand, imagining a ball of light appearing in it.

“Heh, would be nice, even if it would be a pain,” I muttered with a smirk as I made a finger gun and mimed firing the imagined energy ball, “Bang…”

**DRAGON BOOSTER!**

I shot bolt upright as, with a flash of green and red light, a very familiar red gauntlet appeared on my hand.

“What the hell!?” I spluttered, “Is this…”

**“Hehe, yes I am indeed here,” ** said a deep voice, apparently issuing from the gauntlet, **“Nice to finally meet you kiddo.”**

“No way,” I muttered, “How the hell do I have the Boosted Gear? Is this...is this some kind of crossover world?”

**“Hmm, I’m...not entirely sure to be honest,” ** said the great Dragon, **“I...don't think so though. My last memory before I woke up in you was saying goodbye to my previous wielder and then...well, it was a little different than most transfers.”**

“How so?” I asked.

There was a moments silence.

**“Normally, when my last wielder dies, I simply lose consciousness and then wake up in my next host,” ** he said, **“But this time, as Issei died, I felt something...grab me for want of a better word.”**

“You think something deliberately dropped you in me?” I asked.

**“Possible I guess,” ** said Ddraig, **“But I don't think it really matters that much.”**

I stared at my hand incredulously.

“Something unknowably powerful grabbed you from your original world and dropped you into a new one and you say it doesn't matter?!” I asked, “Why not?”

I got the impression of a shrug.

**“Well, what am I going to do about it?” ** he asked, **“I’ve long made peace with my status as a Sacred Gear and, as you said, whatever it was that grabbed me had to be unknowably powerful. I wouldn't even know how to go about finding it and even if I managed it, what could I do? No, better to simply accept it and move on.”**

I blinked. That was...oddly pragmatic of the Dragon. Then again, its not like Ddraig was stupid and being with Issei supposidly mellowed him out a fair amount.

“Alright, I guess I can understand that,” I said, “So...are you willing to help me?”

**“HAH, your the boss around here kid,” ** he said, **“My power is yours to wield as you see fit. Just make sure that you live up to the name of the Red Dragon Emperor and I’ll be happy.”**

“I’m not sure I can match someone like Issei,” I said, “I mean, the guy was a Shonen protagonist and achieved a heck of a lot for someone who started at the literal bottom.”

**“Oh, I don't expect you to live up to Issei,” ** said Ddraig, **“Just live the best life you can and that’ll be enough. Of course, if you manage to beat some of the big bads of this world, that’ll be fine to.”**

I grinned. 

“I think I might just do that,” I said, “I wonder what Lung would make of a real Dragon?”

Ddraig snorted.

**“I’ve seen that overgrown salamander in your memories,” ** he growled, **“The idiot barely even qualifies as a wyvern, let alone a real Dragon. If you do decide to go out and be a, whats the term…, a Cape, make sure you kick his ass for me.”**

I chuckled and nodded.

“I think I can do that,” I said, “Thanks Ddraig.”

The Dragon radiates warmth from deep within wherever it was he lived inside me. I sighed as I let myself drop back against the less-than-comfortable pillow, allowing the gauntlet to fade as I did. This...this changed things. No matter how you sliced it, having the Boosted Gear instantly bumped me up to a level on par with the Triumvirate. Think I’m exaggerating? Well, considering that the Boosted Gear was a weapon that allowed its user to defeat GODS, I don't think I am. Sure, it’d take some time for me to reach the point where that was possible, both in terms of learning how to use it and due to the 10 second limit, but given a bit of time, I could probably outdo Lung in terms of power escalation. Especially if I could unlock a Balance Breaker. Still, I’d need to be careful. Powerful or not, the main reason Issei managed his many feats was a combination of his friends backing him up and the fact he was an Anime protagonist. I had neither and that meant I needed to get a lot stronger before I could face down monsters like the Endbringers. 

“Taylor?”

I looked up to see my Dad stood in the doorway. I smiled shakily.

“Hi Dad,” I said.

Dad wordlessly crossed the room and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back as the many emotions I’d been deliberately holding back since I woke up finally boiled over, all of the confusion, frustration and fear from two years worth of isolation and bullying at the hands of my former best friend, of the experience of the Locker and my own death still so fresh in my mind, of the additional life in my head and the knowledge that I was _ this _close to being put on a path that would lead to more pain and suffering than anyone should ever experience. And the relief of the knowledge that all of that suffering, past and future, could be stopped if I played my cards right. 

Dad held me close as I cried and I felt better by the end of it.

* * *

Eventually, I managed to calm down, but I didn't pull away. It had been way too long since I’d felt this close to Dad and I had no intention of letting go anytime soon.

“Dad, I need to tell you something…” I said.

The sound of a knock at the door cut me off and Dad and I looked up to see a man in a suit stood in the door.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I need to talk to Miss Hebert,” said the man, showing a badge, “I’m Inspector Bones with the BBPD and I was hoping to ask you a few questions about the...incident.”

I shoved down the flair of irritation at the little euphemism.

“Oh, I’ll answer some questions alright,” I growled, “Those bitches nearly killed me this time! No way I’m taking this lying down.”

“You know who pushed you in?” asked Bones.

“Most likely it was Sophia Hess,” I said, “But I bet the entire idea was the work of either Emma Barnes or Madison Clements. Those three bitches have been targeting me since the start of Highschool and the faculty have done NOTHING!”

I ignored the look of shock on Dads face as the Detective stared at me.

“I see,” he said at length, “I’m afraid that will be difficult to prove since there weren't any witnesses…”

I let out a nasty laugh.

“Oh, of course that's what they’d say,” I sneered, “Unfortunately, I can name at least ten people who were stood around watching. Not only that, but I’ve got nearly two years worth of notes and printed out emails at home to establish a pattern of behavior. I doubt those notes or my word alone will be enough to do much, but I imagine it would give you a starting point.”

“I would yes,” said Bones, looking rather annoyed, “If you could give me the names, it would be a big help.”

I did as he asked and answered a few more questions before the detective left, leaving his email address we could send my notes to when we got home. Now alone again, Dad and I sat in silence, before he looked up and fixed me with a slightly pleading look.

“Emma?” he asked.

I winced.

“I...I don't know why,” I said, “When I came back from Camp before Highschool she was...different. She told me to get lost and then…”

I trailed off and sniffed, scrubbing at my eyes. No, I’d cried enough tears over Emma, I wasn't crying any more. Dad scowled and clenched a fist.

“I really hope that Alan doesn't know anything about this,” he growled.

I bit my lip.

“I...I don't think he does,” I said, “I have no doubt he’ll defend Emma to the end, but maybe if...maybe if you talked to Mr Barnes he could do something to help Emma. I’m...I’m not exactly sure shes entirely well.”

Dad took a deep breath and nodded.

“I think I might just do that,” he said.

“Don't do anything stupid though Dad,” I said quickly, “I don't want you to get arrested because you punched Mr Barnes.”

“That will depend entirely on him,” said Dad, before catching my expression, “Don't worry dear, I can control myself.”

I smiled and hugged him.

“Thanks Dad,” I mumbled.

Dad sighed and hugged me back.

“Taylor, I owe you an apology,” he said after a moments silence, “I’ve been a terrible Father…”

I shook my head.

“No Dad, we were both in the wrong,” I said, “Since Mom...went away, we both lost our way. I should have told you what was going on a long time ago, then maybe all this could have been avoided.”

“Maybe,” said Dad, “Still, I feel guilty…”

“Hindsight is 20/20,” I said, “All we can do now is try to do better in the future.”

“Hmm…”

We fell silent once again, the awkwardness of the past two years still very much a thing. Fortunately, another interruption arrived, this time in the form of a white coated doctor and an exhausted looking Panacea. Her deep hood and scarf did a good job of hiding it from casual viewers, but since I was looking for it, I could clearly see her pale skin, bloodshot eyes and deep bags under said eyes. It was the kind of look that could only come from a long stretch of lost sleep.

“Taylor Herbert?” asked Panacea.

“Hebert, but yes,” I said.

“Sorry,” said Panacea as she entered the room and stepped up to the bed, “Do I have permission to heal you?”

“Sure, go ahead,” I said, holding out my hand.

The healer took my hand and I kept a close eye on her, just in case. I had no idea if I was an actual Parahuman or if Ddraigs presence would affect my biology in any noticeable way, so keeping an eye on Panacea’s reaction would hopefully give me some clues. Fortunately, she didn't react and, after a brief tingle, nodded and opened her eyes.

“Your done,” she said and moved to let go.

I tightened my grip on her hand slightly, making her pause and glance at me.

“Thank you,” I said.

Panacea stared at me for a moment, then nodded.

“Your welcome,” she said and pulled her hand out of my grip.

She left the room as the doctor entered and picked up my chart.

“Well, now that you’ve been given a clean bill of health, we can get you out of here as soon as you sign the paperwork,” he said.

* * *

Said paperwork didn't take long and before long we were in Dads truck on the way home. The ride was made in silence as I stared out the window and tried to decide how best to proceed. There was no way in hell I was going out just yet, not until I had some idea how to fight and more strength with which to actually use my Sacred Gear so I didn't have to spend five minutes boosting to an acceptable level. As such, it wasn't as important for me to tell Dad about my powers just yet, but...I didn't want to risk alienating him. The longer I waited to tell him, the greater the risk that he’d panic and do something stupid, but if I came right out and told him it would hopefully mitigate some of that.

Or it could backfire horribly. 

Either way, I couldn't keep my powers from Dad. I’d had a good relationship with my Parents last time through and I really wanted to try and get that closeness back with my current Dad and trust was a big part of that. I’d just have to hope that he didn't run off and sign me up for the Wards the moment he heard about my powers. Not that I had entirely dismissed the idea of joining the Wards yet, but it would be nice to keep my options open.

Since it was rather late, the light traffic meant that it didn't take long for us to get home, which really didn't help my indesition.

“Alright Taylor, get to bed,” said Dad, “We can talk more in the morning.”

I hesitated for a moment, then steeled myself.

“Actually dad, theres something I need to talk to you about now,” I said.

Dad paused on the stairs and looked back at me.

“What is it Taylor?” he asked.

I hesitated again, then clenched my fist and summoned the Boosted Gear.

“I Triggered in the Locker Dad,” I said as he stared at the red gauntlet, “I have powers.”

* * *

Thinking about it, I probably should have waited until morning, but I have a feeling I would have chickened out if I did. That was a rather annoying personality trait that seemed to be ubiquitous across both my lives and something I’d have to take great pains to fix if I could. As it was, I didn't get to talk to Dad about it since, after staring at my Dragon Hand for a moment, he’d just groaned, banged his head lightly on the wall and told me to go to bed.

“Its way too late to talk about this right now,” he’d said, “I’m so tired I can't think straight. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

Now I was in my room, stood in my underwear in front of the mirror and examining my body through the lens of an additional life that came with a male viewpoint. It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that Taylor...um, me? Thats going to get confusing. Whatever, my old self had been a little overly self conscious about her looks. While it was true that I wasn't exactly stacked like some people, I still had legs for days and, despite Taylor’s beliefs, my wide mouth and large eyes actually fitted quite well with my features and served to make my face expressive. I was honest enough to admit that I wasn't as gorgeous as Emma, but I was still far from ugly. 

I sighed and dropped onto my bed face first, not bothering to put on my PJs. This entire thing was a complete mess. While I was happy that I could (hopefully) deal with the Bitches Three and could (again, hopefully) improve my relationship with my Dad, I was less than enthused with the idea that I’d dodged a massive bullet...mostly. While I no longer had any risk of becoming Khepri, I wasn't blind to the potential risk that came with holding one of the Twin Heavenly Dragons. I may not be a Parahuman, but I had no doubt at all that I’d still end up in a lot of fights. I really needed to learn how to fight…

* * *

I blinked. I’m pretty sure I’d just fallen asleep in my bed, but for some reason I found myself stood in a pure white space with nothing but a few wooden benches arranged in a lecture theater style, albeit much smaller.

“Um, where am I?” I asked, “Is anyone...YEEK!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin as someone groped me from behind and reacted. My fist slammed into a cheek, sending my attacker flying into the bench with a loud crash.

“Heh, thats quite the right hook you got there,” said the man as he slowly got to his feet and wiped away the small amount of blood from the corner of his mouth, “Nice reflexes to.”

He wasn’t really much to look at, a young looking man of average height with broad shoulders and short, spiky brown hair and light brown eyes. He was wearing an expensive looking suit with the jacket and dress shirt left open, showing off the red shirt he was wearing underneath. He also looked oddly familiar.

“Wha...who are you?” I asked, taking a couple of steps away.

The man grinned.

“Well, I’m your Senpai,” he said, “I’m the last Red Dragon Emperor, the Harem King, Issei Hyodou!”

I blinked. Then what he said sank into my mind and I may have squeed slightly. Issei blinked, looking slightly taken aback.

“Well, thats a reaction I’m not used to getting from girls,” he said.

I blushed brightly.

“A-ah, sorry about that,” I said, “Its just...I don't know if you know, but I remember a past life where your life was an Anime and, well, your one of the better protagonists I can think of.”

**“And I’m sure the large amounts of fanservice have nothing to do with it,” **growled Ddraig as the great Dragon appeared behind Issei.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said that wasn't part of it,” I said with a blush, “But honestly, I liked the world more than the T&A. Plus, you were a lot more memorable than most Shonen protagonists for some reason. Probably because you’re an unrepentant perv.”

Issei let out a bark of laughter.

“Probably,” he said, “Anyway, I’m curious. What do you intend to do with Ddraigs power?”

I sighed as I dropped onto one of the benches.

“This world is going to shit,” I said, “I could see that before I...woke up for want of a better world. If I was any other Parahuman, I’d say we were still boned, but with the power of the Boosted Gear, something that can kill a God…”

Issei smiled.

“So, you want to save the world?” he asked.

I snorted.

“When you just come out and say it it sounds stupid,” I said, “But yes. I know it’ll take a lot of effort and I’m not even sure if I’d be able to beat Zion, but I’m not willing to just let that golden bastard destroy everything without a fight!”

For a moment, Issei and Ddraig stared at me, before Issei snorted and grinned.

“Well, you wouldn't be much of a Dragon if you did,” he said, “Alright kid, I’ll teach you what I know.”

I looked up at him and cocked my head on one side.

“Huh?”

“You need to learn how to fight if your gonna save the world,” said Issei, “And if there's one thing I know how to do, its fight bad guys.”

His expression darkened slightly.

“Be warned though, I won't hold back, even if you are a cute girl. Your the Red Dragon Emperor now and that means you have to be the best you can be. Interested?”

I stared at him for a moment, before a wide grin crossed my face and I jumped to my feet.

“Hells yeah!” I exclaimed, “Do your worst Sensei!”

Issei grinned back.

“Sensei huh?” he said, “Guess I can get used to that. Alright Taylor Hebert, lets see what you’ve got!”

He jumped forwards and I barely avoided the first punch.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke up feeling surprisingly well rested considering I spent the night getting the snot beaten out of me in my mind. Issei's idea of training was to force me to fight non-stop while he and Ddraig shouted encouragement and advice. Apparently, Ddraig could take the improvements to my astral body from the exercise and apply them to my physical body, which was nice. Especially because he could apparently leave all the aches and pains behind.

I stretched luxuriously, then rolled out of bed and grabbed the dressing gown that was hanging from the back of my chair on my way to the bathroom. One visit to the toilet and teeth clean later, I headed downstairs in search of breakfast.

* * *

I found Dad in the kitchen, staring into a cup of coffee as if it held the secrets of the universe and looking like he hadn't slept a wink.

"Are you OK?" I asked, "You...don't look good."

Dad snorted.

"I haven't had a wink of sleep," he said, "To much to think about."

I winced.

"Sorry," I said.

Dad smiled a little weakly as I moved over to the fridge to start on breakfast.

"Don't worry, I can handle a few sleepless nights," he said.

Silence fell in the kitchen as I focused on cooking up bangers, bacon and eggs.

The silence remained right up until I finished cooking and we were eating. Admittedly, silence over breakfast wasn't that uncommon, but this one was different, more awkward. We had things we needed to discuss, but it didn't seem like either one of us was going to bring them up.

"Your not going back to Winslow," said Dad suddenly.

"What?"

Dad looked up from his plate and fixed me with a look.

"I read through those notes last night when I couldn't sleep," he said, "They really did all that?"

I winced and nodded.

"Yeah," I said, "And the staff never did anything, not when it was the popular girl and the track stars word against mine and no one would ever back me up."

Dad took a deep breath.

"Yeah, in that case, I have no issues with pulling you out," he said, "I refuse to leave you in that situation for a moment longer."

I nodded.

"No arguments here," I said, "Frankly, its probably for the best. I'm...not sure I could take much more without doing something they'd regret."

Dad nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, with...that, I'm sure you could do some damage."

He glanced at my left hand.

"That wasn't a dream, was it?" he asked.

I shook my head and summoned the Boosted Gear. Dad sighed.

"I thought not, but I had to hope," he said, "I'm sorry Taylor. I know what it takes for a Parahuman to...Trigger I think the term is. You never should have had to go through that."

I smiled.

"Hey, I've already said its fine," I said, "We were both a mess and made bad decisions. You can't blame yourself for it."

Dad grunted and I could tell he wouldn't be stopping blaming himself anytime soon, but I decided not to say anything. Yet. I would if it got to bad again, but for now there was another elephant in the room to address.

"So, what can you do?" asked Dad, "I assume there's more to your power than just summoning a glove."

I remained quiet for a moment as I took a sip of tea, considering how best to put this.

"Basically, I can double my power every ten seconds," I said, deciding that the simplest response would work best.

Dad frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "That sounds...a little wishy washy."

"Well, its pretty simple," I said, "Every ten seconds, my strength is doubled. Physical power, speed, durability and so on. I'm not sure about my limits yet, I'll need to do some practice for that."

I frowned as I examined the red gauntlet.

"Think of me as Lung without the transformation and a more exponential power up."

Dad stared at me.

"That...sounds a little excessive," he said, "Is that all it does?"

I grinned.  
"Nope, it also contains the spirit of the Welsh Dragon Ddraig and its previous wielder," I said, "Oh, and I have this."

I clenched by fist.

**BLADE!**

Dad jolted back with a yelp as Ascalon's blade shot out of the Boosted Gear. Apparently, the Holy Sword had been a part of the Sacred Gear for so long it was now permanently bound to it, which was nice. I was kinda interested to see what it'd do to Lung.

"This is Ascalon," I said as I pulled the blade fully out of the Gauntlet, "The sword wielded by Saint George in his legend. It still bares the trait of Dragon Slayer and is extremely effective against Draconic beings."

I looked back at Dad, who was looking at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Um, that sounds...interesting?" he said.

"**I don't think he believes you kid," **said Ddraig, nearly making Dad jump out of his skin at the sudden voice apparently issuing from the back of my hand.

"Well, to be fair, it is pretty out there," I said as Ascalon vanished back into the Sacred Gear.

"**Then why tell him?" **asked Ddraig, **"You didn't have to mention me, Issei or Ascalon."**

"True, but I didn't want to lie to him, even by omission," I said.

"Taylor, who is that?" said Dad, sounding more than a little worried now.

"I told you, his names Ddraig," I said, "I don't suppose theres any way to let him meet you face to face?"

"**I don't normally do this, but yes," **said Ddraig, **"Just touch the Boosted Gear and I'll bring the two of you inside."**

"Right ho," I said as I held out my hand to Dad, "Well?"

Dad looked between me and my hand.

"Taylor, are you sure about this?" he asked.

I grinned and nodded.

"Yep, I've met Ddraig face to face," I said, "I guarantee hes not a Master or anything. Or if he is, hes so powerful that it probably doesn't matter anyway."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," muttered Dad, "Alright, fine. Lets see this 'Dragon' then."

He took my hand and the gem lit up brightly. I felt the table between us vanish and, when the light faded, we were in the white space that was the inside of the Sacred Gear. Dad blinked as he slowly looked around.

"What the...where are we?" he asked.

"This is the inside of the Boosted Gear," I said, "And this is Ddraig."

I pointed straight up as the vast, red wall behind me shifted and lowered his head so he could see us. Dad followed my finger and paled. Considering that Ddraig made Behemoth look small, I can't blame him.

Ddraig lowered his head enough that it was just above mine and looked Dad up and down.

"**Greetings Danny Hebert," **he rumbled in the softest voice he was capable of, which was still deep enough to feel in your bones, **"I am the Red Dragon Emperor, Y Ddraig Goch, more commonly known as Ddraig."**

Dad's mouth flapped for a moment as he tried to properly register what his eyes were telling him and muster a response to a being his brain was no doubt telling him couldn't possibly exist.

"N-nice to meet you?" he eventually managed to squeak out, "I, um…"

He shot a helpless look my way. I grinned.

"Like I said, Dragon," I said.

"That you did," he said weakly, "Um, you mentioned a previous wielder as well?"

"That'd be me," said Issei from where he was sat at one of the benches, unnoticed next to Ddraigs ever intimidating presence, "Sup."

"And you are?" asked Dad.

Issei grinned.

"Issei Hyodou, previous Red Dragon Emperor, Harem King, Devil King Asmodeus and Taylor's teacher!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"You never told me you were the Asmodeus," I said.

Issei shrugged.

"It wasn't relevant," he said.

"Harem King?" asked Dad, looking like he wanted to punch Issei.

The Devil didn't look worried and held up his hands.

"Hey, don't get to worked up, I don't intend to do anything to Taylor but teach her how to fight," he said, "I've done my loving and I'm dead anyway, so there's nothing for you to worry about."

Dad glared at Issei for a moment longer, then turned back to me.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"I'm not about to go out and start punching idiots on the street if that's what your worried about," I said, "Yet. The Boosted Gear potentially puts me on the same level as the Triumvirate, but if it takes me half an hour to reach a level of strength where I can actually do anything, its not very useful."

"Plus, unless she can actually use it, all that power goes to waste," said Issei, "Thats why I'm teaching her how to fight, along with some other tricks."

Dad looked between us, then sighed.

"Well, I suppose thats something," he said, "I don't suppose I could convince you to join the Wards, could I?"

"I'm not a Parahuman, so no," I said.

Dad raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked in deadpan, "You have powers and yet your not a Parahuman?"

"Parahumans are defined as Humans with preternatural abilities and identified by certain structures in their brains," I said, "Structures I lack. Right Ddraig?"

"**Right you are kid," **rumbled the Dragon, **"You did have one of them, but I don't like sharing my host with anything, so I removed it."**

Dad goggled at the Dragon, who was now lounging back and picking his teeth with the tip of a talon, then sighed again.

"Well, I had to ask," he said, "Alright, fine, I know better than to try to stop you. However, I want to know before you go out, understand?"

I beamed.

"Understood," I said, "Don't worry Dad, I have no intention of getting myself killed anytime soon and I certainly don't intend to make you worry more than I have to."

Dad snorted.

"Taylor, your my Daughter," he said, "Even with a Dragon as backup, I'll always worry about you."

My smile increased to almost painful levels and I jumped forwards to hug Dad.

"Thanks Dad," I whispered.

I had no doubt that there was still work to do, but it was nice to know that our relationship could only improve from here.

* * *

Three days later, morning dawned bright and early with me and Dad driving down to Winslow. He was going to shout and Blackwell and get my transcripts while I was going to grab some of the last things that were left in my gym locker. There wasn't much, but I wasn't willing to leave ANYTHING behind in that hellhole. Plus, I wouldn't put it past whatever crazy ROB gifted me with Ddraig to leave something in my Locker that would serve as a powerup later and I really wasn't willing to leave that potential plot point laying around if I could help it.

"Are you sure you want to do this Taylor?" asked Dad as he pulled up into the carpark outside of Winslow.

"I think I have to," I said, staring up at the school that had been the bane of my existence for the past two years.

Seeing it brought up some...interesting feelings. Despite the fact that I was still very much Taylor and my past self was remarkably similar to me, despite being male and from the opposite side of the pond, the fact remained that we were still two different people from two very different worlds. At our cores, we were the same and had similar enough personalities, likes and dislikes that I wouldn't trigger any M/S alarms, but our experiences made us different. As a result, the visceral reaction of fear and hate I probably should have felt upon seeing the hated school.

To be honest, I was actually glad for it. With any luck, the additional memories and the perspective they brought would let me get through this whole experience without trying to blow something up. Hopefully. If not, Ddraig could keep me from doing anything I regret.

I took a deep breath and followed Dad into the school, ignoring the looks I was getting from the students. I did note a couple of the Trio's minions scuttle away with their phones out though, so I was probably going to get ambushed later.

"I'm going to get my stuff," I said, "I really don't want to deal with Blackwell right now."

Dad glanced at me, then looked around with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I can handle it," I said with a grin, "And if worst comes to worse...I've got more than a few tricks up my sleeve."

I held up my left hand. Dad glanced at it and sighed.

"Alright, but be careful," he said.

I nodded and headed off down the hall towards the gym, noting a few more toadies ducking out of sight with their phones in hand.

"**I think you'll have to face those girls soon enough kid," **said Ddraig, **"Can you manage it without snapping?"**

I took a deep breath.

"Probably," I muttered, "Especially with you here to back me up."

I smiled slightly at the soft warmth that radiated from my hand.

* * *

I managed to make it to my gym locker unmolested and retrieved my PE kit, change of clothes spare pencil case and glasses that I kept in there. For some reason, my gym locker wasn't targeted as often as my normal one, likely because the girls coach was a frankly huge woman with biceps the size of my waist and a take no shit attitude who wouldn't think twice about kicking Sophia off the track team if she ever caught the bully doing anything untoward. Honestly, it was only because she was terrifying to everyone that prevented the old me from trying to get her to help, even just by being present.

With that done, I headed back through the halls towards my other locker and found myself walking slower and slower until I finally reached it. I stood in front of the metal door, staring at the lock while a number of conflicting emotions rose in me. In that moment, the differences between who I was before and the me that went into the Locker came into stark relief. I could _feel _the old me starting to panic as the Locker loomed in front of me, but the other part, the older part, was still calm, although I could feel the righteous anger that any decent person would feel in the face of a heinous act. The end result was a confusing mess of emotions that had me rooted to the spot, staring at the Locker with a rather odd look on my face.

Unfortunately, before I could get my head around how I felt, a familiar and hated voice distracted me.

"Well, look who it is," said Emma's voice.

I sighed and turned around. The Trio stood there in a familiar formation that looked casual but served to prevent me from making an escape. At any other time, the sight of them would have me cringing back in my hoodie, but now, with the benefit of a god damn Dragon on par with Gods in my left hand and the memories of someone who knew why they treated me like they did, the three girls seemed...less than threatening. Honestly, looking at them here, I almost pitted them. Well, Emma at least. Sophia was a stone cold psychopath and, judging from the memories, Madison was most likely just doing it to stay at the top of the heap. There was nothing personal there, just business.

That was...honestly kinda sad.

"I'm surprised to see you back so soon Taylor," said Emma, "I would have thought you'd still be curled up in bed crying."

I stared at her for a moment, then sighed and shook my head.

"Thats low Emma, even for you," I said, making the three bullies pause.

"What was that Hebert?" growled Sophia.

I ignored the Ward as I kept my gaze on Emma.

"That little 'prank' nearly killed me you know," I said, "If I had been found any later, I would have almost certainly died of sepsis. Hell, if it hadn't been for Panacea, I'd probably still be in hospital tripping balls on a cocktail of drugs just to keep me alive."

Madison flinched slightly at that, but I didn't take my eyes of Emma, who looked slightly shocked, although whether that was because I wasn't cringing or my blunt admission I'd nearly popped my clogs, I don't know. I sighed and shook my head.

"You know, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could figure out what I did to make you turn on me and everything could go back to normal," I said, "But now...I guess the Emma I knew died a long time ago. I'm done pining for her and I'm done putting up with you three."

I turned away.

"You're gonna run like a little bitch then?" sneered Sophia.

I paused and glanced back at the bully.

"...You know what?" I said after a moment, "Yes. Yes, I'm going to run away. I'm getting out of here, away from you. You've chased me away, done me in. You won, I lost. And somehow I know that my life is going to be far better without you in it, which is the greatest gift you have ever given me. You've kicked me when I was down and made me feel worthless, but now I'm done with you. I'm not going to watch you waste your life, trying to ruin mine anymore. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but it hasn't. Not ever. And you won, congratulations. You're an awful human being. Goodbye."

I brushed past Emma and walked away, then stepped to the side to avoid Sophia's lunge. I'd been training with Issei for a grand total of four days, and no, time did not pass differently in my mind, but if there was one thing that Issei was good at, it was knowing exactly how to draw the best out of people. He didn't bother teaching me Kata's or anything fancy, instead he taught me how to read the battlefield, extend my perception and win any fight I happened to enter. I wasn't anywhere close to being good enough to match even a fraction of a single percentage of Issei's frankly insane level of skill (it was blatantly obvious that he wasn't even trying, despite the fact that I never even got close to touching the guy unless he let me), but he knew exactly how much of that skill to use to push me to improve at a pace that was actually rather scary.

Considering all that, a stupid girl with an overly inflated opinion of herself who I'd become intermately familiar with in an attempt to avoid her was frankly easy to avoid. I shoved her gently as she went past, making her stumble a short distance before regaining her balance and spinning around to glare at me.

"You really want to do this?" I asked, "Cus I guarantee it won't go well for you."

"Why, because your so tough?" growled Sophia, "Please, your just a little rat Hebert! I would have thought that the Locker would have shown you your place!"

I tilted my head on one side.

"My place?" I asked, "And where would that be?"

Sophia sneered.

"In the dirt, with the rest of the useless worms," she said, "Your weak Hebert, always will be, so don't you dare act like a big shot!"

I stared at her for a moment, before my lips slowly curled into a grin.

"Weak, am I?"

Sophia faulted slightly and took half a step back before catching herself. I guess that she must have good instincts, either due to experience fighting or due to some side effects of being a Parahuman.

"I guess that means that your strong, right?"

Sophia drew herself up, apparently shoving down the fear that came from facing off with an angry Dragon.

"Damn right," she sneered.

I stared at her for a moment longer, then snorted and turned away.

"Then I think I'll take that as a complement," I said.

"Eh?!"

"If being strong means treating people like crap, I'd rather be weak," I said, "Besides, its not so bad to be weak. It just means you can work with other weak people until your strong enough to stand on your own."

I glanced back at Sophia and grinned at the stumped expression on her face.

"Later bitches, hope you choke on that self righteousness," I said, before pausing and glancing back at Madison, "Oh, and Madison? I suggest you take a good hard look at yourself. I don't believe for a moment that you have any actual malice directed towards me, but that doesn't change the fact that you idiots nearly killed me. I got lucky, the next girl might not."

I guess I must have really stumped them because this time I managed to leave unmolested.

"**Are you OK?" **asked Ddraig.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I muttered."

"**Hmm…"**

"Hey Taylor, wait up!"

I twitched violently at the familiar voice. Greg Veder, my own personal annoyance, a boy who my old self sympathised with to a degree...and the boy who had stood back and watched me get shoved into the Locker without doing anything and then didn't come forwards as a witness during the initial investigation despite the fact he was under the impression we were friends and may have a crush on me. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly his biggest fan right now. I sped up in an attempt to get away. It didn't work.

"That was awesome Taylor!" he gushed as he matched my speed, "You really showed those bitches…"

"Shut up and fuck of Greg," I growled, "I'm not in the mood."

Grag faulted slightly, a betrayed look on his face.

"Wha...but Taylor…"

I growled and stopped, spinning around to face the geek and shoving a finger in his face.

"Alright you, listen up," I snapped, "We're not friends. At best, we're acquaintances who occasionally talk and work together."

Greg took a step back, a look of hurt on his face.

"But…"

"I don't blame you for not getting involved with most of the bullshit those three idiots put me through," I said, "But I know you were there at the Locker and yet the cops said that there were no witnesses. Tell me Greg, what kind of friend leaves someone in a situation like that?"

I ignored his flinch as I turned on my heel and walked away, this time making it to the doors without interruptions. I paused just outside and took a deep breath.

"**Taylor…"**

"I'll be fine," I muttered as I scrubbed at my face, "I'm done with this place now. I won't be coming back."

I shook myself off, forced a smile and headed over to where Dad was waiting by his truck with a sheaf of paper and an angry look.

"You OK kiddo?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, "Lets...lets just go home."

Dad eyed me for a moment, then nodded and opened the truck door. I climbed in and closed my eyes. I was so done with Winslow, now it was time to get started on the rest of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Well, that was more of a pain than I was expecting. It was surprisingly hard to get the right tone for the confrontations. You might be able to guess where I'm going with them.
> 
> I'm sure that I'll get some grief for having Taylor spill everything to Danny, but I generally prefer Danny's who actually help Taylor. He won't have a big role, but it will be there.
> 
> The dissonance between the two sides of Taylor won't be a big thing for long, its just because of the differences caused by their experiences and the fact that, even without the usual drama that comes with this sort of thing, theres still a certain amount of time needed for the two sets of memories to fully integrate.
> 
> And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!
> 
> EDIT! Since GlassedGamer came up with a much better speech than I did, I added it to the chapter with his permission. Thanks man!


	3. Chapter 3

The next month was...interesting to say the least. I spent my days working through the make up material sent over by Arcadia (I was due to start in a couple of weeks once I was up to date and had taken some placement tests), my nights training with Issei and the occasional spare hour keeping up with the utter chaos that was the mess of an investigation into Winslow. Apparently, my little...incident as Blackwell had referred to it as had got bumped up the chain and attracted a LOT of official attention. The end result? About 90% of the staff canned, more than half of them arrested on a laundry list of charges, a massive number of kids expelled and a few arrested and the mayor spitting nails as he tore through the local education board trying to find out just how Winslow had been allowed to deteriorate so much.

There had been a minor kerfuffle between Dad and Alan Barnes shortly after the whole mess had come to light, but, thankfully, cooler heads had prevailed when I'd got the two men to sit down and talked Alan through everything Emma had done to me, complete with walking him through my journals. Thankfully, he wasn't the stubborn idiot version of Alan and had accepted me at my word, saying that he'd be talking to Emma about it. A few days later, he came back looking downright horrible and apologized profusely. Apparently, the conversation had not gone well and lead to a number of unpleasant secrets coming out when Alan and Zoe had searched her phone and computer and found all the evidence they needed. Now Emma was undergoing therapy and under what amounted to house arrest.

As for Sophia, well, she'd apparently had the book thrown at her and Shadow Stalker had vanished off the face of the Earth with only vague platitudes and boilerplate responses coming from the PRT when questioned on her whereabouts. Not that many people questioned her whereabouts since she wasn't actually that popular.

Not that I really cared that much, I was over those morons. Instead, I focused on the much more important aspect of my life, my training. As I said, I spent a lot of time in my dreams working with Issei, not just on physical skills, but also on Magic. As it turns out, while he wasn't anywhere near as good as any of his girls, his long life had allowed him to pick up a fair amount of Magic. Nothing to complicated, I wouldn't be creating Seals for Endbringers anytime soon, but enough to give me a few ranged options, shields and a rather useful spell that let the user switch their clothes, the same one used by Rossweisse and Akeno to switch from civies to battle gear. Of course, I still needed some battle gear and, unfortunately, Issei didn't know how to use Alchemy, forcing me to find another way to get a decent costume. Fortunately, that issue was solved in a rather unexpected way.

* * *

I stared at the large, slightly dusty box on the kitchen table with a raised eyebrow, before glancing at a dusty, but pleased looking Dad who stood beside it. I had just arrived back from my run (because exercising in the physical world was still important, even with Ddraig allowing the results of my dream training to appear on my physical body) to find Dad emerging from the basement with the box and a triumphant look on his face.

"So, what exactly is this?" I asked.

"Its something I think you'll find useful," said Dad as he grabbed the top of the box, "I know you've been getting restless and your trainings reached the point that you can reasonably go out without much issue. I can't say I like it, but I know better than to try to stop you. Instead, I'll make sure your at least a little armoured with this."

He opened the box to reveal a suit of armour. I gaped.

"Um, what?" I asked, "Why do you have…?"

"It's not mine, it was your Mothers," said Dad, "She never got to use it because she left Lustrums gang before it was finished and never had any reason to use it afterwards."

I did a double take.

"Wait, Mom was a Cape?" I asked.

Dad nodded.

"She had insanely heightened strength, agility and flexibility, as well as the ability to mark objects with a touch and track them with perfect accuracy," he said, "She never really felt the need to go out and be a hero or villain though. I think she had her fill of that mess with Lustrum and her crazy followers."

Well that was...interesting. Useful to since it saved me having to find a way to get a decent costume. I reached into the box and started pulling out the costume. A white breastplate with gold and pale blue accents, matching fingerless gauntlets, boots, hip guards and helmet that was shaped vaguely like a bird with sweeping wings. There was also a black leotard made of a material I didn't recognize, thigh high stockings made of the same stuff and a pale blue cloth wrapping that looked like it went under the hip guards. It looked pretty nice, very solid and extremely familiar.

"Um, Ddraig, I don't have any surprises in my DNA, do I?" I asked under my breath.

"**No Taylor, your fully Human," **said the Dragon, **"Although I can see why your confused. It does look almost identical to Valkyrie battle armour."**

"So, a coincidence?"

"**Or possibly some higher power messing with you."**

I twitched.

"I think I'll go with coincidence," I muttered.

"Something wrong Taylor?" asked Dad, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"Ah, no, nothing," I said quickly, "The armour looks good, although I am a little worried about being mistaken for a member of the Empire. It has a slightly...nordic look to it."

"Thats...actually a good point," said Dad, slumping slightly, "Damn, this stuff is all Tinkertech material, so I was hoping that…"

"I could always make a very loud and obvious rucas to make it obvious that I'm not affiliated with the Empire," I said.

The look on Dads face said everything it needed to about his opinion of that plan. I sighed.

"You do know that I'm going to get on the Gangs bad side at some point, right?" I asked, "I can't make a difference to the city if all I do is stop muggings and hold ups. Besides, its not like I'll be picking a fight with someone like Lung on my first day out."

I wasn't suicidal after all. Dad sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"To be honest, I don't like the idea of you fighting anyone," he said, "But...your right. One way or another, you'll end up getting into a fight. Your to much like your Mother."

I smiled a little sadly as Dad took a deep breath.

"Alright, I won't stop you from doing what you need to do," he said, "HOWEVER, if you see someone like Hookwolf or, god forbid, Lung, you are to run, got it?"

"Got it," I said, "I know I'm not strong enough to take on either of them alone. Yet."

Dad scowled at the reminder that I would likely be fighting them at some point, then deflated.

"I also want you to take this," he said, pulling a cheap burner phone out of his pocket with a look on his face like he was holding a warm dog turd.

I raised an eyebrow as I took the phone.

"You might need it to call in anyone you take down or for backup," he said, "I've already programmed the police and PRT helpline numbers into it."

"Thanks Dad," I said, "This'll be a big help."

I looked down at the armour and frowned.

"That said, this is gonna look odd next to my Boosted Gear," I said, "Hmm, Oh, I know!"

I held a hand over the pile of armour and closed my eyes. A moment later, a red magic circle appeared and the metal began to glow, before fading and revealing that the white parts of the armour were now the same red as the Boosted Gear and the dark blue decorations on the hip guards and helmet turned green, as did the lenses in the mask eyepieces.

"There, thats better," I said with a grin, "And for my next trick…"

I snapped my fingers and the armour vanished in a flash of light, leaving the left glove behind and reappeared on me. I stumbled slightly at the unexpected change in weight, then walked out into the hall where a full length mirror hung on the wall to check myself over. The armour fit surprisingly well, considering it wasn't made for me. In fact, it fit almost perfectly. I frowned.

"Dad, you said this stuff was made of Tinkertech material, right?" I asked.

"Thats right," said Dad, "Nothing but the best for Lustrums Lieutenants. Its tougher and lighter than anything else on the market and can somehow resize itself to fit the wearer perfectly. The Tinker who made it makes an absolute fortune on the stuff, metal and fabric."

"I bet," I said, "Still, thats rather useful considering I don't have any spells for resizing clothing."

I took another look at my reflection, then switched back to my normal clothes and turned to dad.

"So, I assume that your giving me the costume because you think I'm alright to go out?" I asked.

Dad sighed, but nodded.

"I'd rather you didn't, but I can also tell your getting antsy," he said, "Just make sure to be careful and TRY not to pick any fights you can't win."

I grinned.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of getting myself killed," I said.

"Well, thats a relief," said Dad.

I grinned again and hugged him.

"Thanks Dad," I muttered.

Dad sighed and hugged me back.

"Your welcome Little Owl," he said, "Now go be a Hero."

I grinned, gave him one last squeeze and headed for the door, grabbing my coat on the way.

"Try to be back before midnight!" called Dad as I left the house.

"Will do," I called, "Later Dad! Don't wait up!"

I jogged down the road and turned down an alleyway as soon as I reached a spot with few people. I kept going until I was out of view from the road and stopped, casting a quick spell to make sure I was alone, before switching to my new costume and jumping straight up, bouncing of invisible platforms as I did. Issei didn't have any Flight spells since he had wings, but he did know a method of creating hardened platforms of air, which was as almost as good as flight. Well, not really, but it'd do for now.

I quickly crested the building and shot off in the direction of the Docks. What? Its a good place to find trouble.

* * *

It didn't take long. In fact, I'd barely crossed over the boundary between the nominally peaceful part of town where my house was and into the badlands of the Docks when the sound of gunfire reached my ears. I paused and looked around, quickly locating the source of the disturbance as a rather vigorous disagreement between a group of ABB and Empire thugs who were shooting at each other. I perched on a roof, looking down at them while trying to decide if it was worth intervening or not. Things like this happened so often that the cops generally didn't bother responding to gunshots in the Docks unless called directly, mainly because the only people who lived there were homeless people who knew to duck in cover or Merchants who nobody would miss.

After a moment's thought, I sighed and conjured a couple of Magic Circles. While not exactly the most glamorous debut, I couldn't really leave them. Fights like this tended to escalate and we weren't that far from the inhabited parts of the city. Besides, considering my choice of outfit design and colours, making it abundantly clear that I was with neither gang by blowing up a number of their members would probably be best. The circles spun up and I pointed a hand at each group.

"Feachd," I muttered.

The spell word wasn't really necessary, but since I lacked the Devil ability to simply shape Magic with my will and imagination, I had to actually build my Spells from the ground up and assigning spell words as mnemonics made it easier to use them. I'd chosen to use Gaelic as my magic language, mainly because not many people spoke it and Ddraig was able to teach me it fairly easily.

This particular spell wasn't that impressive, it just did exactly what it said on the tin. Created a blast of force meant to knock opponents off their feet. Or, if powered up enough, possibly knock down a building. That was the beauty of Magic from the DXD verse, it was remarkably modular if you knew what you were doing.

The circles flashed and two faint distortions of air shot out, colliding with the ground smack bang in the middle of the two groups of gangsters and exploding, sending dust, debris and bodies flying every which way. The shooting abruptly stopped as the thugs started swearing violently and looking around wildly as the ones who'd gone flying staggered to their feet. I grinned and hopped off the roof, landing on top of a lamppost that was situated between the two groups.

"CAPE!" shouted one of the goons and instantly all eyes were on me.

"Why yes, I am," I said with some amusement, "Now, would you fools mind ceasing this ruckus and dispersing? Your disturbing the neighbours."

My response was a lot of guns pointed my way.

"So thats a no then?" I asked, "Sgiath."

A rather large circle appeared in front of me as the goons opened fire. The bullets created small sparks as they hit the shield, but didn't do much else. In fact, they just hung there, their kinetic energy completely absorbed by the barrier. I ignored the gunfire as I looked around and found a likely target. A twist of my hand summoned another circle.

"Tionndadh," I muttered and a thin beam of light shot out and hit one of the goons on the Empire side.

They seemed to have a lot more firepower than the ABB goons, although there were fewer of them. There was a brief flicker and a feeling of falling as the goon and I switched places, leaving him perched precariously on top of the lamppost without the aid of Magic to keep him in place. He quickly lost his balance and fell off with a rather unmanly scream. His friends were rather slow to react, mostly looking wildly between where I had been to where I now was, giving me plenty of time to regain my balance. It was a good trick, but I wasn't quite used to the decidedly odd feeling that spell induced.

I clenched my fist and grinned.

**BOOST!**

I shot forwards and punched the closest goon in the stomach, causing him to fold in half, gasping for breath. A quick step to the side avoided a clumsy swing from another goon, who earned himself a fist to the face and a broken nose for his trouble.

**BOOST!**

I grinned as I felt the surge of power that came from my Sacred Gear and shot forwards, even faster than before. This time, the thug I punched went flying, just as the rest of the Empire thugs got their act together and aimed their guns my way.

"Sealanach slabhraidh," I muttered.

There was a loud crack and the goons went down, twitching and smoking slightly from the taser level lightning bolt I'd shot at them. I turned on my heel to the next goon, only to find him pointing a shotgun at me. Without thinking, I froze, making the man grin evilly and go to pull the trigger.

CLANG!

I blinked in shock as a metal disk bounced off the man's skull, followed by the flat of a sword that sent him face first into the floor. I blinked twice more as the newcomer planted her feet and thrust her sword skyward. I ruthlessly shoved down the urge to squee like a fangirl.

"Ho, once again the Heroes emerge victorious!" crowed Mouse Protector from her perch on the back of the insensate goon.

The Hammy Hero was a rather tall woman and wore costume that appeared to be a cross between knight and roman armour covered by a red cape and carried a round shield with a symbol that I'm pretty sure broke some copyright painted on it and a sword with a pommel shaped like said copyright infringing symbol. Her helmet had a visor that hid her eyes, but left her wide, expressive mouth visible, just to make sure that her famous grin was visible at all times, and topped with a pair of mouse ears.

I stared at her for a moment longer, then looked around. Apparently, I'd been rather more distracted by the E88 thugs than I should have been because, not only had Mouse Protector managed to sneak up on me, but she'd also managed to take down the ABB thugs without me noticing.

"Impressive work newbee, but you really need to work on your battlefield perception," said Mouse Protector as she hopped off the goon, "Losing track of those around you could well lead to you getting stabbed in the back by some dishonourable knave!"

I winced.

"Yeah, I know," I said, "My teacher is gonna tear strips off me later…"

"Better scolded than dead," said Mouse wisely.

"True enough," I said, "So, um, what now?"

Mouse grinned and patted me on the head, making me flinch since she hadn't been standing that close a moment ago.

"Now my little Kohai, we call the cops and have them pick up these miscreants," she said.

I brushed her hand off and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Thank you for your great insight Senpai," I said in perfect deadpan, "I could do without the gratuitous Japanese though."

Mouse grinned again and chuckled good naturedly as she pulled out a phone and prodded the screen.

"Greetings Police Type Person," said Mouse as someone on the other end picked up, "This is the gallant Mouse Protector calling to report that myself and…"

"Ddraig," I said as she looked at me.

What? It works fairly well as a name and sounds cool.

"...the new Hero Ddraig have taken down a number of miscreants from the ABB and Empire on the corner of 9th street in the Docks," she finished, "Would you mind sending some fine folks to collect them?"

There was a pause.

"Great, we will be waiting," said Mouse and hung up.

That done, she turned to me.

"So, what can you do?" she asked.

I blinked at the blunt question.

"Quite a bit," I said after a moment, "I'd rather not talk about it here though. That said…"

**BLADE!**

I pulled Ascalon out of my gauntlet and held it out to a now very intrigued looking Mouse Protector.

"Do you think you can give me some pointers on using this?" I asked, "My teacher is great at fighting, but not really a swordsman. Plus, he doesn't really know much about using this thing in a non-lethal way, so some advice would be nice."

"Can I see it?" asked Mouse.

I wordlessly handed the Holy Sword over to the hammy hero, who looked it over with an air of someone who was very familiar with swords.

"Hmm, excellent balance," she muttered as she flicked the pad of her thumb across the blade, "Sharp. Very sharp."

She took a stance and swung the blade, creating a loud whistling sound as the mythical steel cut through the air. Apparently satisfied, she nodded and held the sword out to me.

"A very good sword," she said, "But also not one I'd recommend using against just anyone."

"No, I got that," I said as I took the sword back, "Believe me, I wouldn't use this against regular goons. Its for people who are a genuine threat, although I still need to know how to use it so I don't accidentally kill someone with it if I am forced to use it."

Mouse nodded.

"Probably a good idea," she said, "Alright, watch me."

She held up her sword as I focused on taking in everything she could teach me.

* * *

There were several things going through Miss Militia's head as she drove her bike carefully through the docks, but the two most important ones were how best to sell joining the Wards/Proctorate to the new Cape who'd apparently just taken down a large number of thugs and the other was what the hell was Mouse Protector doing here?!

She'd been on patrol a few blocks over when Console had contacted her with the details of the report, which had been passed onto them by the BBPD, as was standard for any incident involving Capes. The new face wasn't entirely unsurprising, although it was nice that they were apparently on the side of good for once, but Mouse Protectors presence was.

While the mouse themed Hero was known to move around a fair bit, she was primarily based in Phoenix and generally didn't show up in Brockton without getting in touch with Hannah first, mostly to ask if she could stay with her or at least meet up, so the fact she was in town without calling first was odd.

She turned the corner and found a number of cops loading the thugs from the report into a couple of police vans while another of their colleagues spoke to the two Capes on the scene. Hannah stayed back for a moment, both to let the man finish, but also to take in the newcomer. She was tall and slender, but clearly still a teenager, with long, curly black hair pinned back by her mask. Her armour was red and green and remarkably high quality for a new Cape, suggesting that she had connections and for some reason had mismatched gloves, with the right being fingerless and matching the rest of her costume and the left being a much more bulky gauntlet that covered her entire forearm with a large gem in the back and a pair of large gold spikes sticking out at the elbow that resembled the clawed hand of some kind of massive reptile.

As she watched, Mouse finished talking to the cop and turned to wave at her.

"Hey Missy!" she called, "Come on over!"

Hannah sighed at the nickname, but walked over to the two other Capes.

"Hello Mouse," she said, "I didn't know you were in town."

Mouse Protector shrugged.

"Eh, I'm visiting family," she said, "My Brother and niece have been having some trouble lately and he asked me to come up and help out."

"I see," said Hannah, "Then I take it you won't need to crash on my couch?"

Mouse grinned.

"Nope, I'll be staying with them for now," she said, "Although I'll be moving in to my own place eventually. The issues are...complex and to large to be dealt with quickly."

Hannah felt a slight shiver go up her spine at that. There was no doubt that Mouse Protector was an excellent Hero, but any city she set up shop in for any length of time tended to get...odd. She made a mental note to stock up on whisky and be very careful when she reported this to Director Piggot.

That was for later though, for now there was something much more important to deal with. Hannah turned to the younger girl, who was eyeing her with a slightly odd expression on the visible part of her face.

"And you must be Ddraig, correct?" she asked with a friendly smile.

Even if you couldn't see it, she found that it still helped make her more approachable.

"Thats right," said the girl, "Its nice to meet you."

Hannah accepted the offered hand from the girl and winced slightly at the tightness of her grip. Definitely a Brute.

"Not a bad job for your first night out," said Hannah, glancing at the full vans as the officers shut the back doors.

Ddraig winced slightly.

"Ehhh, not so much," she said, "I'm not used to fighting groups of opponents and got to focused on what was in front of me. If Mouse had not stepped in, it could have ended...badly."

Hannah raised an eyebrow and made a note of that response. Most new Capes weren't anywhere close to that self aware, especially the uncomfortably large number of teenaged ones.

"You know, the Wards could help you fix that issue," she said.

Ddraig smiled a little thinly.

"Thanks, but I've already got a teacher," she said, "Don't take it the wrong way, I fully intend to work with you guys, but I don't want to join the Wards for...personal reasons."

Hannah nodded and decided not to push.

"Alright, its your choice," she said, "Just so long as your aware of the risks that come with being a solo Cape."

"Oh, I am," said Ddraig, "Keenly. Thats why I intend to be very careful going forwards."

"Besides, shes not going solo," said Mouse, slinging an arm around the taller girls shoulder, "Shes got me after all!"

Ddraig looked even more taken aback than Hannah at that declaration.

"Um, thanks?" said Ddraig, "But...why?"

"Well, you've got a cool sword," said Mouse, "Plus, your interesting. I really wanna see what you can manage to do."

Hannah frowned and made a mental note to keep an eye on Ddraig. Not because she thought Mouse would do anything wrong, just the opposite actually. The Hammy Hero might act the fool, but she was anything but and an excellent judge of character on top of that. It wasn't often that she took an interest in new Capes, but those she did often became excellent. Heroes in their own right.

"Alright, I guess I've said everything that needs to be said," said Hannah, "It was nice to meet you Ddraig. I doubt you will, but please consider joining the Wards. I have no doubt that your...teacher is good, but the Protectorate has a lot of good teachers as well, not to mention a lot more resources."

She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a card.

"Take this as well," she said, "I can be reached at that number 24/7 if you ever need help or someone to lend a sympathetic ear."

"Thank you," said Ddraig, taking the card and slipping it into a compartment in the back of her armour.

Hannah smiled and said her goodbyes, before remounting her bike and driving away, already mentally preparing the report she'd have to give to the Director.

* * *

"Well, that was fun," said Mouse Protector once Miss Militia was out of sight, "Sorry to cut this short, but I have a previous engagement."

"Thats fine," I said, checking the time on my phone, "I probably ought to be getting home anyway. Um, thanks again for the help."

Mouse Protector grinned and slapped me on the back.

"Don't worry about it Kiddo," she said, "It was my genuine pleasure."

Her smile changed to one that was less happy-go-lucky and more smugly amused.

"See you kid," she said, "Possibly sooner than you think."

I frowned, but before I could ask what the hell she meant by that, she snapped a salute and vanished with a pop.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

There was no response, of course.

* * *

It took another half an hour to get home since I took a circular route to throw off any trackers (hopefully), but eventually, I turned into our street, once again back in civilian clothes and about ready to hit the sack. As I approached my house, I paused as I saw a car I didn't recognize parked in the drive.

"Huh, I didn't know we were expecting guests," I muttered, "I wonder who it is?"

I approached the door, hopping over the rotten step as I did, and opened it, noting the additional coat and shoes by the step.

"I'm home!" I called.

"In here!" called Dad.

I followed his voice into the sitting room where I found him sitting in his favorite chair and drinking tea with a tall woman with black hair that curled at the bottom, despite being cut short, dark brown eyes and an easy grin, which was pretty normal for her. She was also wearing a Mouse Protector brand T-shirt, which was also pretty typical from what I knew of her.

"Hey Kiddo, its been a while," she said.

"Hey Aunty Debbie!" I said with a grin, "What are you doing here?"

My aunt's grin faded slightly.

"Danny told me whats been going on," she said, "And since things have been boring back home, I decided to come up and give you a hand."

I stared at her for a moment, then my jaw dropped as I suddenly figured out exactly why that grin looked so familiar.

"Oh, you have got to be SHITTING me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I probably shouldn't just end this here, but I couldn't resist. You can probably guess where I'm going with it anyway. I don't think I've ever seen it done before, so theres that.
> 
> Side note, there is a reason why I called Taylors Aunt Debbie, but I'm positive that no one else will get it.
> 
> Let me be perfectly clear, no Annette was NOT a Valkyrie! I just really like the design of Rossweisse's armour and decided I wanted to use it. As Ddraig said, its pure coincidence.
> 
> I picked Mouse Proctors home city at random, so there really isn't anything to her being based in Phoenix, it was just the first American city I thought of that doesn't have a Triumvirate member based in it.
> 
> Miss Militia probably could have pushed the Wards harder, but considering that Ddraig's running with Mouse and she clearly has some idea of what shes doing, she decided not to. Soft sell is much more effective in that case.
> 
> I...honestly can't think of anything else to say, so I'm gonna sign out. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


	4. Chapter 4

A couple of hours later, I was in my room, laying back on my bed while trying to sort out my thoughts of this new reality. It was one thing to find out that Mom had been a Cape, I did know that she’d worked for Lustrum when she was at Uni after all and her being a Cape was simply one extra point. However, the idea that her sister was not only a Hero, but one of the most famous inaugural Wards in the country, well, it really put some things into perspective. Like the fact that Mom and Aunt Debbie always seemed to be awkward around each other. They mostly got on fine, but if anything happened to bring up the past or their side of the family, they got...odd.

I have to say though, I was a little annoyed with Dad. The reason Aunt Debbie was in town was because he called her about my powers and asked her to come up to give me some help getting started. I mean, I get why he did it and its not like he called the PRT or signed me up for the Wards without asking, but I would have liked a heads up. That said, I can't think of a better mentor for a new Cape than Mouse Protector. Despite her demeanor, she had a reputation as an incredible teacher and was one of the best independent Heroes in the country. If the canon version of her was anything like my Aunt, its not surprising that it took the Slaughterhouse Nine ambushing her to beat her considering I’m almost certain that she could beat most of them in a fight, outside the ones whos powers are total bullshit.

Speaking of which, that was honestly rather scary to think that it I hadn't told Dad about my powers, there was a very good chance that my Aunt would be destined for a messy end at the hands of the S9.

I shuddered and wrenched my mind away from that thought and got back on track. Apparently, the main reason Dad had agreed to let me go out tonight had been because Aunt Debbie had arrived in the city and had told him that the best way to get an idea of what I could do was to see how I’d do when patrolling on my own without backup, otherwise he would probably have told me to wait a little bit longer and actually go out with my Aunt from the start. I wasn't entirely pleased with the deception, but it could have been a lot worse. At least it was done in the name of helping.

I sighed and turned my thoughts from the family secrets and back towards the other, more important things we’d discussed before I headed to bed, namely the AAR. We’d gone over the fight in detail and Debbie and Dad had ruthlessly pointed out everything I’d done wrong, which could basically be boiled down to getting cocky and not simply bombarding the idiots from above and letting myself become to focused on what was right in front of me at the expense of everything else.

I closed my eyes and let myself slip into my Soulscape within the Boosted Gear.

“So, whats on the agenda for today?” asked Issei as I opened my eyes.

I frowned.

“I need to work on fighting groups,” I said, “I've got to used to fighting solo, which is probably going to be fairly unlikely going forwards.”

Issei smiled.

“Alright, then lets get started,” he said and snapped his fingers.

The air around us shimmered as a number of featureless humanoid figures appeared, all armed with different weapons similar to those that would likely be used by gang bangers, from lengths of pipe to chains and even a couple of guns.

“Training montage, group combat,” he said, “Complete this and I’ll teach you something new.”

I nodded as I summoned the Boosted Gear and slipped into a ready stance.

“Ready when you are,” I said.

“In that case, begin.”

The constructs charged.

* * *

Director Piggot sighed as she set aside the report she was reading and rubbed her temples. This...wasn't good. While Mouse Protector was definitely a great hero and had a positive impact on the crime statistics of whatever city she found herself in, she was also a massive pain in the neck and tended to make the Villains panic and do some very silly things. After all, not only was Mouse horrifically effective at taking down Villains, she also tended to humiliate them in the process.

She was very much the Spiderman of Earth Bet in that way.

Piggot pushed that thought away for now and went back to the report. Mouse Protectors presence would be annoying, but there was nothing she could really do about it. This new Cape on the other hand…

“What do we know about this...Ddraig?” she asked.

“Not very much I’m afraid,” said Miss Militia, “According to the ABB and Empire men we questioned, she produced blasts of force, shields, somehow swapped herself with on of their men and produced a lightning attack that knocked out a large number of them. She was also apparently a lot faster and tougher than she looked.”

By the time Hannah had finished listing the powers listed, Piggots eyebrows were nearly disappearing into her hairline.

“Thats...quite the range of powers,” she said, impressed and more than a little worried, “Some kind of Trump?”

“More likely a Tinker,” said Armsmaster, who was stood beside Miss Militia, “Her armour, especially the gauntlet on her left hand, look very much like Tinkertech. Its rather impressive that she was able to build it without being picked up though.”

“She mentioned a teacher,” said Miss Militia, “Its possible that they, whoever they are, helped her.”

Piggot frowned.

“I’ll be honest, I don't really like the sound of that,” she said, “It sounds like this teacher, whoever he or she is, knows that Ddraig is a Cape and that could be dangerous.”

Armsmaster and Miss Militia both scowled and nodded. Both of them were well aware of the dangers of Parahumans being under the control of the unscrupulous. It never ended well.

“At least she has Mouse to watch her back,” said Miss Militia.

Armsmaster shuddered slightly, making the two ladies look at him.

“I just had a slightly worrying thought,” he said, “What if Mouse Protector is her teacher?”

There was a moments silence.

“Your going to have to walk us through that one Colin,” said Miss Militia, “Why would Mouse teaching Ddraig be a problem? Shes certainly good enough for it.”

Colin shuddered again.

“_ Two _of them!” he whispered, “I don't think I could take that…”

There was another moments silence, before Miss Militia burst out laughing and Emily let out a snort.

“Oh Colin, I didn't know you had it in you,” said Hannah, “We’ll make a person out of you yet.”

Armsmaster looked slightly confused, but nodded.

“I’m a little confused at her name choice though,” said Hannah, “It doesn't sound English.”

“Because its Welsh,” said Armsmaster, looking a little more comfortable at the change of subject, “It means Dragon and I believe that it comes from the phrase ‘Y Ddraig Goch’, which means the Red Dragon and refers to the, well, red dragon that appears on the Welsh flag.”

Piggot looked thoughtful.

“Well thats...interesting,” she said, “I wonder if shes from the country?”

“She didn't sound Welsh,” said Miss Militia, “It is an interesting choice though. I wonder why she chose it?”

Piggot sighed.

“I suspect we won't know unless we ask her,” she said, “Alright, for now we view her as an Independent. With Mouse Protector hanging around her, we can't do much else. I do want to gather more information on her powers though and tell the Wards to soft sell the possibility of joining up if they run into her, or at least coming in for Power Testing. The same goes for the Protectorate. Again, with Mouse, any risks normally associated with being solo are mitigated. That said, her powers would be a great boon, so I’d like to get her to sign up if possible.”

“Understood,” said the two Capes.

“Good, dismissed.”

The two Capes saluted and left, leaving Piggot to get back to her work and idly wonder just how much chaos was likely to come from having Mouse Protector around.

* * *

I stood on the street, staring up at the gleaming white building before me and suppressed the urge to run home and hide under the covers. Seriously, I thought the extra memories and help from Ddraig and Issei would have made this a synch, but the part of me that was still the beaten down, nearly broken girl was still there, whispering in my ear that this was a horrible idea. As a result, I was stood outside of Arcadia high school, rooted to the spot while I tried to summon the courage to take the first step.

My only warning was an odd feeling washing over me, before a well manicured hand landed on my shoulder, jolting me from my thoughts. I glanced back and was somehow unsurprised to find Glory Girl, Victoria Dallon floating (literally) behind me with a wide smile. It probably goes without saying, but she was a beautiful young woman with fair skin, rather wild, golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Oh, and a killer figure, which I found myself feeling rather inadequate before.

“Hi, are you new?” she asked, “I don't recognize you and you look somewhat lost.”

“I, um, yes I am,” I said, “I’m transferring in today.”

“Really? Then I guess you’ll need a guide then,” said Victoria with a blinding smile, “I’m Victoria Dallon, but my friends call me Vicky.”

“Um, Taylor Hebert,” I said, still not entirely sure what to make of the overly energetic blonde.

The pressure on the back of my head that was probably from her Aura certainly didn't help matters.

“Come on, I’ll take you to the office,” said Vicky, seizing me by the hand and dragging me into the building.

Well, thats one way to deal with nerves I guess.

* * *

“And this is the office!” said Vicky with a flourish as we finally finished the whirlwind tour of the school, “You OK from here?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I said.

Vicky grinned widely, before glancing up as the bell rang.

“Oops, I gotta go,” she said, “See you at lunch Taylor!”

“Thank you!” I called.

The blonde paused and glanced back, then grinned again.

“Don't mention it,” she said, “You looked like you needed help.”

Then she was gone, leaving me staring after her and feeling rather like I’d just been through a rather intense windstorm.

After a moments pause, I turned and entered the office. As I did, the woman at the desk looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“Miss Dallon?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Hmm, you have that look,” she said, “Now then, you’ll be Miss Herbert, yes?”

“Its Hebert, but yes,” I said.

“My apologies,” said the woman as she flipped through a stack of paperwork and extracted a file that she handed to me, “Before you go, Vice Principal Adams would like to speak with you. Just through there.”

She indicated to a door off to the side. I thanked her and headed over, knocking softly on the door.

“Come in.”

I entered and found myself in a neat office with few personal touches and inhabited by a middle aged woman with the look go a stern but very good teacher who. She had graying, black hair pulled back into a tight bun and steel gray eyes behind a pair of square rimmed glasses.

She glanced away from her computer screen as I entered and smiled thinly.

“Sit down Miss Hebert,” she said, “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

I did as I was told and waited silently as the Vice Principal finished typing and turned to face me fully, fixing me with a look that made me feel like I was being X-rayed.

“First of all, I’d like to welcome you to Arcadia High,” she said, “Your entrance test results were exemplary and looking at your past grades, ignoring the ones from Winslow, I don't think that you’ll have anything to worry about going forwards. I trust that you will be an asset to the school.”

I smiled a little awkwardly at the praise.

“Um, thank you,” I said.

Adams smiled back, just as thinly as before.

“On a more serious note, I am well aware of the...incident that happened at Winslow, as well as the horrific treatment you received from both the students and staff. I would like to assure you that that will NOT happen here and if it does, I shall be utterly incensed and will take steps to ensure that the perpertraters are removed and, if needed, charged. I understand that your faith in authority has likely been shaken, but I hope that, in the unlikely event that something similar happens here, you will place your trust in the faculty to do our jobs.”

I nodded.

“I will,” I said, “I’m well aware that Winslow is about as far from the norm as could possibly be.”

Adams sniffed.

“Quite,” she said, “Anyway, that is all I wanted to discuss with you. Please do your best from now on Miss Hebert, I shall be expecting great things from you.”

I nodded and stood.

“Thank you Ma’am, I’ll try not to let you down,” I said.

Adams nodded and turned back to her computer. I left the room and paused in the entry area to take a deep breath.

“Well that was...interesting,” I said.

**“She seems rather competent,” ** rumbled Ddraig softly, **“Much more so than that Blackwell person.”**

I snorted.

“Calling Blackwell incompetent is an insult to all incompetents out there,” I muttered.

I shook my head and slapped my cheeks.

“No, not thinking about that,” I said, “Time for some real schoolwork.”

I opened the pack I’d been given and found a map on top, along with my timetable. It didn't take me long to plot a route to the classroom and slightly longer to actually get there considering it wasn't that far away. I hesitated for a moment, not entirely comfortable with the idea of being under an entire class worth of scrutiny, before drawing on the warmth and confidence of the Dragon inside me and entering. Naturally, all eyes immediately turned on me since I was both very later and very new.

“Ah, you must be Taylor, yes?” asked the teacher, a rather short middle aged woman with a face that suggested she smiled a lot.

“Thats right,” I said, “Sorry I’m late, I had to get my stuff.”

“Thats quite alright dear,” said the teacher, “I’m Mrs Knight. I hope that you enjoy your time with us.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Thank you,” I said.

Mrs Knight smiled back and turned to the class.

“As you can see, we have a new student joining us from the cesspit that is Winslow,” she said, “Please try not to bombard her with too many questions.”

There was a soft chuckle from the students as I glanced around and spotted a free chair near the window next to a short girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Anyone sitting here?” I asked.

The girl glanced at me and shook her head.

“No, feel free,” she said.

“Thanks.”

I took the seat.

“Um, I’m Taylor Hebert,” I said, deciding that I might as well make an effort.

“Buffy Summers,” said the girl.

I blinked, then fixed her with a flat look.

“I don't suppose I need to be worried about monsters attacking me if I hang out with you, do I?” I asked.

Buffy groaned and dropped her head to the desk.

“Oh fabulous, you’ve seen that stupid TV show,” she said, “No, I am not a Vampire Hunter, nor do I have the hots for anyone who’d really like to rip my throat out. My Dad just really liked the show.”

“I’m not that familiar with the show to be honest,” I said, “I just know it by reputation.”

That was actually true, in both lives, not helped by the fact that the TV series never took off on Bet, although there was an imported version from Aleph floating around. It wasn't exactly popular though, probably because certain aspects of it hit a little close to home for some. After all, its hard to get invested in fantasy monsters when real, Human monsters existed.

“Anyway, monsters aside, its nice to meet you, Buffy,” I said, “Mind being my guide for the day?”

Buffy snorted.

“Sure, why not?” she said.

As it turned out, Buffy was a damn good guide and a pretty interesting person, being well read and knowledgeable about history and science, two subjects I rather liked. She was also apparently somewhat lacking in friends due to issues stemming from her family. I got the feeling she wasn't exactly happy with her situation since she generally avoided talking about them. Then again, I had only known her for all of two hours, so I guess I shouldn't be trying to psychoanalyze her yet.

* * *

Eventually, lunch rolled around and I followed Buffy to the cafeteria where I got a plate of rather tasty smelling beef stew and turned to follow Buffy to wherever she was sitting.

I wasn't expecting a Victoria Interrupt.

“Hey Taylor, come sit with us!” said the flying Brute as she appeared out of thin air and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“Huh? Hey, wait!” I yelped as I was steered in the direction of a table of seniors who all had the looks of the Queen Bees hanger ons, plus one Amy, along with a group of three boys I was willing to bet were the Wards.

Naturally, I was completely ignored and its not like I could really do anything about Vicky frog matching me across the room without whipping out my Sacred Gear. I shot an apologetic look at Buffy when she turned at my shout, which Vicky seemed to catch.

“Your friends welcome to,” she said with a friendly smile, “Come on, the more the merrier!”

Buffy looked slightly reluctant, but aquiested to my pleading look and followed me across the room. As we approached, I took a closer look at the people sitting there. As I mentioned, the girls were all attractive and well dressed, not to mention rather sporty looking. The first had pale skin, short dark brown hair with wavy locks on one side of her face, dyed with a gradient that starts as a dark brown and transitions to caramel, brown eyes and was wearing a cocoa coloured shirt, dark brown, expensive looking trousers and equally expensive heeled leather boots, along with a beret and aviator sunglasses on her forehead. I immediately pegged her as someone who rather liked fashion if the way her eyes ran over mine and Buffy’s clothes as we approached was anything to go by.

Sat next to her was a much shyer looking girl in less eye catching clothes that consisted of a short, long-sleeved brown jacket with a golden zipper over a white shirt with a broken heart symbol on the front, black leggings and sensible shoes. She had long, brown hair that covered her eyes slightly and brown eyes.

The last girl was the most obviously athletic of the bunch, with tanned skin, long blonde hair tied in twin ponytails and green eyes. Despite her...colouring for want of a better word, her features were clearly Asian and she was wolfing down her lunch like someone was going to steal it.

The final girl was obviously Panacea and her lack of deep hood and scarf let me get a good look at her. Like her sister, her skin was fair, but other than that, they couldn't be more different. Her hair was black and wavy in a way that suggested she straightened it but it didn't quite take. Her eyes were light brown and surrounded by makeup in an attempt to hide the bags under them, which didn't really work and only drew attention to how pale her skin was. Honestly, looking at her, it was surprising that no one had checked on her to make sure she was OK. She was reading a book I vaguely recognized as being from a young adult series I’d looked at and dismissed as being a poor Twilight clone. And that should tell you all you need to know about it.

As for the boys, well, it honestly wasn't that hard to identify them. Dean Stanfield was obvious, I'd seen him on TV a couple of times, albeit in the background more than anything, and the others were a pale red-head with a lot of freckles and a grin that immediately made me think he needed a twin (or not, one set of Weasley Twins was enough), a handsome Hispanic boy with a lantern jaw and dark hair and eyes and a brown haired boy with his nose stuck in a book on engineering, to the point that he barely looked up as we approached.

“Hey Vicky, who are the kids?” asked the girl in the sunglasses.

“This is Taylor Hebert,” said Vicky, clapping a hand on my shoulder and nearly sending me to my knees, “She just started today and I’m helping her find her feet. This is…”

“Buffy Summers,” muttered Buffy, still looking a little uncomfortable.

Amy snorted, but when everyone looked at her, she didn't seem to have moved, other than taking a moment to glance at us.

“Anyway, these are my friends and people its good to know around here,” continued Vicky, “FIrst up is Coco Adel…”

The fashionista smirked and raised a hand while I nearly had a minor mental fuse blow.

“Velvet Scarlatina…”

The shy looking brunette ducked her head and I found myself imagining her with rabbit ears.

“Hibiki Sakura…”

The blonde Japanese girl (and yes, that does sound weird outside of an Anime dimension which...I’m fairly sure this wasn't). She glanced up from her bento and nodded with a breaded shrimp tail sticking out of her mouth. Nice

“And of course, my sister Amy.”

Amy glanced up and nodded vaguely.

“And then there are these people who don't matter,” said Vicky, waving an idle hand the the boys sat at the table.

“Oh Vicky, how you wound us with your words!” gasped the redhead dramatically, placing a hand over his heart and the other against his forehead.

“Don't give up your day job Dennis,” said Vicky with a grin.

She seemed to do that a lot.

Dennis laughed and turned to us.

“So, as you heard, I’m Dennis,” he said.

“You I know,” said Buffy, “Mostly by reputation. Are you still in detention for that squirrel prank or have you finished?”

Dennis grinned.

“Ah, a lady of culture,” he said, “Ah, but where are my manners? I must introduce my honourable companions!”

He proceeded to do just that and I was completely correct as they were indeed Chris, Dean and Carlos. With the introductions now done, Buffy and I sat down and quickly found ourselves greatly enjoying the conversation, despite Buffy’s earlier misgivings. Guess whatever was bothering her wasn't that important.

Throughout lunch, I kept one eye on Amy, noting that she seemed to perk up slightly whenever Vicky let her Aura slip, then look guilty and bury her face in her book. I sighed. Great, that was one thing I’d have to deal with that I had no idea where to even begin. One of many unfortunately, but it was the most present.

* * *

I continued to consider the problem throughout the rest of the day and by the time the last bell of the day rang, I thought I had the beginnings of an idea.

“Hey Ddraig, do you think Dress Break could remove the effects of Vickys aura from Amy?” I asked as I settled back against the wall to wait for my pickup.

**“I don't see why not,” ** said Ddraig, although he didn't sound entirely happy, **“Although I’m not sure if you’ll be able to learn it…”**

“Its just Magic, right?” I asked, “Sure, it was born from Isseis perversions, but its still just a spell at the end of the day.”

**“True enough,” ** said Ddraig, **“I suppose its worth a try. Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, its not entirely useless as a combat spell…”**

I snorted.  
“Don't worry Ddraig, I won't follow Isseis path of perversion,” I said.

I glanced up as I felt someone approaching and saw Vicky approaching, looking rather pleased.

“Waiting for a lift Tay?” she asked.

“Yeah, my Dads coming to pick me up,” I said, “Um, thanks for the help today.”

“I told you, it was no problem,” said Vicky, “That said, me and Ames were planning to go shopping after school tomorrow. Do you want to tag along?”

“Who else is going?” I asked, “And why me?”

Vicky chuckled.

“Don't worry, I won't subject you to Coco’s shopping habits this soon after meeting her,” said Vicky, “Shes an...acquired taste to say the least. Besides, shes got a fashion show, so she and Velvet aren't available, Hibiki is hitting the gym and shopping is boring with just me and Ames. So I figure I might as well invite my newest friends along.”

I blinked.

“Friends?” I asked.

Vicky grinned and shrugged.

“Sure, why not?” she asked, “You two both looked like you could use more friends.”

Despite myself, I smiled. That...honestly felt nice. As over the top and short tempered as she could be, I’d quickly come to the conclusion that Victoria Dallon really was as friendly as she appeared. Unlike some people, there was no hidden agenda in her offer to be friends, just a genuinely desire to help someone she saw that needed it.

“Sure, why not?” I said, “It could be fun.”

Vicky beamed.

“Excellent!” she exclaimed, “Hey, whats your number? I’ll text you the details later.”

“I, um, don't have a cell phone,” I said.

Dad had been read the riot act by Aunty Debbie when she’d found out about that and he’d agreed to loosen up and let me have one, but we hadnt had chance to sort one out yet.

Vicky looked at me in surprise.

“Why not?” she asked.

I winced.

“Well, Mom was killed while on the phone while driving and…”

Vicky paled slightly.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry,” she said, “I guess I can see why you don't like them then…”

I quickly waved her apology away.

“Its fine, you didn't know,” I said, “But I am planning to get one. I can do it when we go out. For now, I’ll give you my home number.”

Vicky immediately brightened and nodded as I rattled off the numbers.

“Got it,” she said, “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Sure, see you,” I said as the irrepressible Blonde flew away in the direction of her friends, who were stood around Dean's car.

**“Well, that was...interesting,” **said Ddraig.

“Yeah, nice though,” I said, “First day and I’ve already made some friends…”

**“Keep them close Taylor,” ** said Ddraig softly, **“As cliche as it is, I dare say that those bonds will be among your greatest strengths in the future.”**

I snorted.  
“Sure, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, “You are from an Anime world after all. The Power of Friendship is strong with you.”

Ddraig grunted in response and fell silent as I spotted my Dads truck turn into the carpark. I hefted my bag and started jogging over as he pulled up, waving to my friends as I went.

“Nice day?” asked Dad as I hopped into the truck.

“Yeah, real nice,” I said happily, “I even made some friends!”

Dad smiled and ruffled my hair.

“Well, thats something at least,” he said, “Now lets go home.”

I smiled as he pulled away and leaned against the window, watching the city go by. As bad as Brockton could be and as bad as the future looked, I still couldn't help but think that it looked a little brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...well, I now feel sick. I need to go blow up some alien scum to feel better. But I kid, that was fun. I do wish I could actually get what I have planned for my chapters done though…oh well, in this case its actually better to wait a bit.
> 
> Sorry I didn't show the AAR, but my attempts to write it went...badly. Trust me, this is better.
> 
> Bit of a glimpse at whats going on in PRT land. Piggot is worried, Miss Militia is exasperated and Armsmaster is completely lacking in social graces. Pretty much par for the course honestly.
> 
> To be clear, I have no plans for any actual crossovers (outside of the current ones) to appear in this story. I'm just to lazy to come up with original characters for side roles. I do have...interesting plans for Buffy though. Want to guess what secrets shes hiding?
> 
> Next time will have some action, but this one was mostly just filler, which I honestly feel kinda bad writing...eh, it let me set up some important characters who will play big roles in the future.
> 
> And with that, I'm out. I should have been in bed an hour ago, but I couldn't stop writing. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was more of the same and I found myself greatly enjoying myself. While it was still way too early to really make any conclusions about the school or my classmates, I could already tell it was going to be leagues, no, worlds better than Winslow. Not that that was hard, but still. I sat with Buffy again for most of the lessons we shared and with Vicky and her friends for lunch, which once again involved getting dragged bodily over by the irrepressible blonde. This time, I noticed that Dean kept shooting slightly odd looks at me, but dismissed them. It likely wasn't anything important.

Eventually the day came to an end and Buffy and I headed to the front of the school to wait for the Dallon sisters. I glanced at my new friend and frowned slightly when I saw she was looking nervous again.

"Whats up?" I asked.

Buffy jumped and glanced at me.

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked a little to quickly.

"You look like your about to jump out of a plane without a parachute your so tense," I said, "We're just going shopping. I know Vicky seems like the type to go...overboard, but it won't be that bad."

Buffy eyed me for a moment, then sighed.

"Its not that," she said, "Its just...its personal…"

I nodded.

"Alright, I won't pry," I said, "Just...try to relax a little OK? Nothings going to happen and if it does, we'll be with Collateral Damage Barbie. We'll be fine."

Buffy snorted and gave a slightly weak smile.

"Thanks Taylor," she said.

I returned the smile and turned to the two girls approaching from the school.

"Sorry for the wait," said Vicky, who was floating a few inches off the ground, "Shall we go?"

There was a general round of agreement and we headed for the bus stop.

* * *

One of the best things that came out of the whole sorry affair with the Locker, other than the powers and seeing the Bitches Three getting the kicking they deserved, was the rather impressive settlement Winslow gave Dad and me. I have a feeling that Mr Barnes was at least partly responsible since the man was NOT pleased with the Winslow administration. I didn't know the details, but I had overheard him talking to Dad and from the sound of things, Winslow doing nothing to curb the Trio's bullying had done nothing to help Emma's issues and had indeed exacerbated them. Combine an angry Lawyer with the fact that the school administration likely did NOT want to deal with a lawsuit from us while also having to deal with everything else that was going on and the settlement they offered had a LOT of zeros. The influx of money meant that a lot of the issues we'd been suffering from suddenly went away and meant that I could actually go shopping with my friends without risking breaking the bank.

Unfortunately, it also meant that Vicky had no reason to hold back.

By the time she was done, I had what amounted to an entirely new wardrobe of stylish, yet still comfortable clothes to replace the drab gray hoodies and jeans that had been my wardrobe for the past couple of years. To be fair, I didn't really like it considering that the current contents of my wardrobe was designed to act as camouflage in an attempt to make myself less of a target, while simultaneously hiding any stains and bruises, but that didn't mean that my feet hurt any less! At least I'd talked Vicky out of convincing me to buy any heels.

* * *

"Urgg, shes a damned demon!" I groaned as I let my head drop down onto the table.

Following our invasion of the mall, Vicky decided that we all needed to refuel and thus, dragged us to the boardwalk to a rather nice little cafe she apparently knew called Crosswalk that was owned by a slightly ill looking man of indeterminate age who stood behind the counter.

"Oh come on, shes not that bad," said Buffy, who was wearing a slightly strange expression.

I lifted my head and fixed her with a glare.

"YOU'RE not the one she somehow talked into buying all this crap," I growled, indicating to the large number of bags around my feet.

"You did say that you needed a new wardrobe," said Buffy.

"I didn't mean all at once!" I groaned.

"Are you still complaining about that?" asked Vicky as she and Amy walked up with some trays of cups and plates of cake.

"Some of us don't have superstrength," I growled, "This lot is going to be a nightmare to get home."

"That'll teach you to ask Vicky for help with shopping," said Amy with a smirk as she sat down across from me, "Her proclivities are well known after all."

"I don't exactly spend a lot of time on PHO," I grumbled, "Oh never mind, I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of this stuff, so I can't complain."

"Yourrr welcome!" chirped Vicky, looking smug.

I scowled and took a big chunk out of the exquisite Victoria Sponge I'd ordered.

* * *

Half an hour, a cup of tea and a large bit of cake later and my feet were hurting a lot less and I was genuinely enjoying myself. Not to say I wasn't enjoying myself earlier, but Vicky was a real Demon when it came to shopping. I think I already mentioned that…

Anyway, with our stomachs now full of amazing cake and a mental note of the cafes location for another time, the four of us headed out to wander around the Boardwalk for a bit longer and possibly catch one of Parians shows. Well, that was the plan anyway. Instead, things got...strange.

We were just rounding a corner that lead from the Boardwalk itself to where the show was due to start when Buffy ran straight into someone coming the other way, sending both to the floor in a heap. Buffy quickly scrambled to her feet and stumbled back as the rest of us stopped and stared at the girl still laying on the ground.

She looked about the same age as Buffy and I with short, curly ginger hair tied back with a pink bow, bright green eyes, light skin and freckles and was wearing an old-fashioned blouse with short grey feminine overalls as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.

"Salutations!" she chirped.

I stared.

"Um, hello?" I said.

"Are you...OK?" asked Vicky, looking as confused as I was.

"Oh, I'm wonderful, thank you for asking!" said the girl.

There was a moments silence as we all tried to absorb the extremely odd sight of the smiling girl still laying flat on her back in the street while I tried to figure out how in the fuck this was happening. I mean, Coco and Velvet were one thing, they acted like normal teenagers, but this was...strange.

"Do you...want to get up?" asked Vicky.

There was a pause while the gir...fuck it, while Penny genuinely seemed to think it over.

"Yes!" she said eventually and flipped to her feet.

The movement was so sudden that we all took a step back.

"My name is Penny," she said, still smiling, "Its a pleasure to meet you."

That was getting a little creepy to be honest.

"Um, hi Penny, I'm Taylor," I said, mainly because I couldn't think of anything else to say.

This was WEIRD!

"I'm Buffy," said Buffy, looking about as confused as I felt.

"Amy," said Amy.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" asked Vicky, before getting an elbow in the side from her sister, "Oh, I'm Vicky."

"Its a pleasure to meet you!" chirped Penny.

"You...already said that," said Buffy.

There was a pause.

"So I did!"

"Annnyway, sorry for running into you," said Buffy, "We should...go."

We all turned to go, mainly to get away and try to figure out what in the fuck just happened, while I briefly toyed with the idea of seeing if she'd react like RWBY Penny if I finished the scene. And yes, I had noticed that the exchange was a lot like the one in RWBY when the team met Penny. After a moment, I mentally shrugged.

"See you friend," I said with a wave.

"She was...weird," said Vicky as we made our way down the street, "You should have checked her Ames."

"I can't exactly go around scanning everyone I meet," said Amy, "Besides, some people are just...weirrrr…!"

She trailed off as she turned around and found Penny stood directly in front of us again. Welp, definitely not normal.

"What did you call me?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think you heard me!" said Vicky, looking rather perturbed.

And for good reason. Parahumans came in all shapes, sizes and mentalities and this girl was pinging so many warning signs its rather surprising that she wasn't already in a fighting stance.

"No, not you," said Penny, brushing past the Blonde Brute and stopping directly in front of me, "You!"

"Um, me?" I squeaked, leaning back as Penny lent even closer.

"You called me friend!" she said, "Am I really your friend?"

"Errr…"

I looked over her shoulder at my friends, who were all shaking their heads violently. OK, now I really wanted to see how they'd react. Besides, having Penny around could be...interesting? Sure, lets go with that.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" I said.

Sadly, they didn't faceplant Anime style, but there was a lot of facepalming.

"Sensational!" said Penny as she hopped back, looking like she'd just won the lottery, "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"Are you...sure about this?" asked Buffy as she sidled up to me, "She doesn't exactly seem...stable."

"Eh, who cares?" I asked, "Everyones a bit strange, who cares if she shows it more than most? Besides, she seems like she could use a friend."

Vicky glanced between the two of us and a still babbling Penny and shrugged.

"Eh, what the hell?" she said, "More friends are always better."

Behind her, Amy sighed and rolled her eyes as Vicky grinned and turned to Penny.

"So Penny, what do you do for fun?" she asked.

Penny blinked and looked thoughtful.

"Well…" she started, right before a rather large explosion cut her off.

We all turned, just in time to see what appeared to be the love child of a big rig and a bulldozer come crashing screeching around the corner with Armsmaster on his bike in hot pursuit.

"Oh great, did Squealer get high and decide to go joyriding again?" asked Vicky as the bystanders did the smart thing and booked it, "I'll be right back."

"What? No, Vicky WAIT!" shouted Amy, but the blonde Brute had already taken off, flying towards the Squealermobile at a decent clip.

A moment later, the front of the Tinker vehicle opened up and a large cannon barrel folded out.

"FUCK YOU GLORY HOLE!" yelled Squealer as she leaned out of her 'cars' window and fired.

I'm not exactly sure what it fired, but whatever it is hit Vicky full on and knocked her for six. She stumbled in the air and dropped, hitting the ground hard. It was clear that whatever Squealer had hit her with had done something to her inner ears if the way she was swaying as she pushed herself up was any indication. It was also clear that she wouldn't be able to recover before Squealer hit her.

"Shit!" I hissed as I lifted my hands and prepared to cast a spell to get her out of there.

It would out me for sure, but I'll be damned before I let my friend get hurt right in front of me!

However, before I could even start the spell, Penny was already moving. Between one breath and the next she was between Vicky and the Squealermobile.

What happened next was rather predictable

CRUNCH!

Everything froze as the Squealermobile slammed into Penny's outstretched hands and stopped cold, its momentum apparently transferring through Penny and into the pavement, digging her feet into the ground and cracking it deeply. Other than that, the ginger haired robot (I assume) was barely even phased.

"What the fu…" started Squealer, but was cut off as Penny jumped onto the hood of her vehicle and punched straight through the windscreen.

There was a short scuffle, before Penny got a hold of Squealer and dragged her through the hole by the collar.

"That was reckless," said Penny, completely ignoring the flailing from the Tinker in her grip, "You nearly hurt my friend. Then I wouldn't have been happy."

"FUCK YOU!" screamed Squealer and punched Penny across the face.

Penny barely reacted to the blow as Squealer went white and yodaled in agony as she grabbed her clearly broken hand.

"Still don't think its not worth being her friend?" I asked a gaping Buffy as we watched Penny punch Squealer out and jump down off the Tinker vehicle with the now thankfully silent Tinker in tow.

"I...guess not," said Buffy, "But...why did she do that? She just outed herself without a second thought!"

I glanced at her with a slight frown. That reaction was a little more intense than I would have expected.

"I guess some things are just worth more than a mask," I said after a moment's pause.

"I...guess your right," said Buffy.

"But we can think about this later," I said, "Come on, lets go make sure Vicky's OK."

Buffy nodded and we jogged over to where the Dallon sisters were stood, Amy having dashed to Vicky's side almost as soon as she'd shook off the shock of seeing Penny stop Squealers truck. The blonde looked slightly unsteady, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

"That was reckless Vicky!" said Amy, "You know how dangerous Squealer can be. Those vehicles of hers always have hidden tricks."

"I know, I know," said Vicky, "Damn that hurt. My ears are still ringing…"

She shook her head and looked around, taking in the shattered pavement and the crumpled front of Squealers truck.

"Penny did that?" she asked, "Damn, shes tough…"

I glanced at the red-head as she dropped Squealer in a heap next to the Tinker vehicle and trotted over, a slightly worried look on her face.

"Piece of advice, do not piss her off," I muttered.

"Yeah, I got that," said Vicky, looking slightly uncomfortable.

I honestly can't blame her. While Brutes were pretty common, Brutes on the same level of raw physical strength as Glory Girl generally weren't. Hell, I'm not entirely sure that Vicky could have actually stopped the van like that considering how her powers actually worked.

"Are you OK Vicky?" asked Penny as she approached.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Vicky as she pushed off Amy, "Just...a little dizzy."

Penny breathed a literal sigh of relief and smiled.

"Thats a relief," she said.

Before anything else could be said, a throat was cleared behind us. We turned and I noticed Buffy tense slightly as we saw a rather stiff looking Armsmaster stood there with his halberd out and planted beside him in a pose that I'm 100% certain was entirely rehearsed. A part of me really wanted to squeal at being this close to my former favourite hero, but the rest of me was to busy thinking about how much of a dick the man was in the original timeline. Was it fair to judge him based on actions not yet taken? Possibly not, but in my defence, he was the one basically responsible for my original selfs decent into villainy and he attempted to get me killed at least once.

I shook my head and shoved that thought aside. I wasn't that person and never would be if I had anything to say about it. Skitter would never happen, not as long as I was the Red Dragon.

"Your name is Penny, correct?" asked Armsmaster, his beard looking remarkably tense.

"Thats right!" chirped Penny, "Nice to meet you Armsmaster! I'm a big fan!"

Armsmaster's beard twitched slightly.

"Yes, well, might I ask why you stepped in like that?" he said, sounding just a tiny bit less tense.

"Well, Squealer could have hurt someone," said Penny, "She would have hurt Vicky. I couldn't let something like that happen if I could avoid it."

There was a moments silence.

"I see," said Armsmaster, "But you are aware of the danger this places you in? You just outed yourself as a Parahuman in public. Surely your aware of the danger that places you and your family in?"

Penny tilted her head on one side innocently.

"Parahuman?" she asked, "I'm not a Parahuman. I'm a perfectly normal girl. Hic!"

She jumped slightly and covered her mouth with a slight blush while everyone else in the area fixed her with an incredulous look.

"I...see," said Armsmaster again, now looking very confused, "Be that as it may…"

Whatever Armsmaster was going to say was abruptly cut off by a rather upbeat ringtone playing from Penny's pocket. The girl paled slightly as she pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.

"Oh no, its the Professor!" she yelped as she awnsered it, "Um, h-hello Professor, I…"

She winced slightly as whoever was on the other end apparently started to yell at her. A few moments later, she seemed to wilt slightly and nodded.

"Alright, I'll be back shortly," she said and hung up, "Sorry, but I need to go…"

Armsmaster narrowed his eyes.

"If you need help, the Protectorate can…"

Pennys eyes widened at the implication and she shook her head quickly.

"Oh, nonono, its nothing like that!" she said, "Honestly, the Professor is really nice to me and my sisters! Its just...I wasn't really supposed to be doing any hero work yet, so hes a bit annoyed."

She smiled.

"Don't worry though Mr Armsmaster," she said, "If anything does come from this, I'm combat ready!"

She snapped a salute, then crouched and jumped straight up, cracking the pavement again and somehow managing to land on the roof of the nearest building. With another jump, she vanished entirely. There was a moments silence as everyone stared after the strange girl.

"Well, that was...odd," said Amy eventually.

"I...really think you should have checked her over Ames," said Vicky, "She...wasn't normal."

"Nice though," I said, "We really need more heroes like her."

Armsmasters beard tightened again as he turned back to us.

"I need to get statements from you girls if you don't mind," he said, "If you would follow me."

We all glanced at each other, before doing what we were told, Vicky now apparently fully recovered. As we did, I glanced back in the direction Penny had gone. I had to wonder if I'd see her again. Probably considering she outright said she was going to be a Hero. The more interesting questions were who built her and what did she mean by sisters?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so I know this chapters a bit short, but I’m going to leave it here. I originally planned for it to end here anyway, but I ended up scrapping the original opening since it involved Skidmark getting arrested and Squealers rampage being his breakout, but that seems a bit much. I think even the PRT could keep hold of someone for more than a day after all.
> 
> So yeah, more hints that Buffy’s hiding something, as if anyones not figured out what shes got hidden away in her family tree.
> 
> I’m terrible at including everything I’m supposed to. I meant to mention the windfall of cash from Winslow earlier but forgot. Oh well, better late than never.
> 
> Why hello there Penny, fancy seeing you here! I planned from the start to include that scene which, yes, is taken from her introduction in RWBY. I thought it was rather funny. Bet Squealer didn't.
> 
> Hmm, I wonder who the Professor could be? As if you can't guess. And no, I will not be changing my mind, no matter how much people dislike him.
> 
> And with that, I’m signing off. Next time will have more action and, possibly, the start of the first proper arc wherein Saint and his friends show up and get creamed by ditzy AI’s. Should be fun. Until then, don't forget to leave a review!


	6. Chapter 6

As much as I was enjoying my time at Arcadia, I was rather glad when the weekend rolled around. Mainly because it meant I could finally go out on patrol again. Dad decided that it was probably a bad idea for me to have any late nights for my first week at a new school and, as much as I agreed with him, I was also starting to get antsy. I'd got a taste of what it was like and I wanted more. Unfortunately…

"Is this really necessary?" I asked as I followed my Aunt down the Boardwalk, feeling more than a little uncomfortable under the many stares we were attracting since non-Protectorate Capes just wandering around like this wasn't exactly common.

"Yep," said Mouse, who looked a lot less self conscious and practically skipping, "Perception is important for Capes, especially new ones. You don't want the first images of you to pop up on PHO to be of you punching goons or brooding on rooftops. It makes it a lot easier for you to get labeled as a Villain if you somehow mess up later down the line. This way, your mask gets known without having anything violent or depressing being attached to it."

She glanced back and me and frowned.

"Well, sort of. You could try smiling a little."

I forced a smile and Mouse twitched.

"On second thoughts, maybe not."

She stopped and sighed, then turned to face me.

"Look Ddraig, I get it. You want to be out there and kicking ass and you thought not joining the Protectorate would remove the need for this sort of thing. However, consider how every Cape appears to the general public, be they Hero or Villain. Every Parahuman ability has the potential to save lives, but they also have just as much, if not more, risk of hurting or even killing people. Imagine how the regular person feels knowing that a teenage girl could casually punch their head off their shoulders, or that a bullied kid could end up being able to build death rays out of junk in his Dads garage. The simple fact is that ALL Parahumans are viewed with a certain amount of suspicion by the public, even those who are basically known to be heroes or appear to have weak powers. That is why its so important to maintain good PR, even, or perhaps especially, for independents."

I blinked and stared at her. That...was honestly more of a reasonable explanation than I was expecting and it made sense.

"Now, that doesn't mean you need to do photo shoots, events or even public patrols every week like the Protectorate and Wards do," continued Mouse, "However, you should still make the effort to do a patrol like this at least once a month. It lets people get used to your presence and helps build a positive image."

"Huh...that all makes sense," I said, "Doesn't change the fact that this is boring though."

"Better bored than boned," said Mouse.

"Well, when you put it like that…"

I trailed off as the air in front of us abruptly distorted weirdly and deposited a little girl clad in green and a boy my age clad in rather nice looking red armour stood on a hoverboard. At the sight of us, they froze and Vista's eyes visably widened behind her visor.

"Ohmygosh, its Mouse Protector!" she gasped in the manner only a really young kid could.

Mouse let out a bark of laughter.

"Yep, it is I!" she exclaimed, striking a pose while I just facepalmed, "And you two are Vista and Kid Win, right?"

"T-thats right!" gasped Vista, "Ohmygosh, its such an honour to meet you!"

"So I take it shes a fan?" I deadpanned as the younger girl started gushing.

"How could you tell?" asked Kid Win, "And your...Drag, right?"

"Ddraig actually," I said, "Nice to meet you Kid Win. Although before we start, I should probably point out that I'm not interested in joining the Wards, so you might as well skip the soft sell I've no doubt your bosses have told you to give."

Kids eyebrow went up behind his visor.

"How did you know about that?" he asked.

"Because I can guess how people like Piggot think," I said, "I'm a young, powerful and potentially valuable Cape, exactly the sort of person they'd love to get their hands on, even without knowing what I can do. Plus, Mouse pretty much confirmed that the other night."

"Speaking of which, how do you know her?" asked Kid, before quickly backpedaling, "Ah, you don't have to answer that, I'm just curious as to why she'd come half way across the country to teach you."

I waved off the apology.

"I don't mind, although I will keep the actual reason to myself," I said.

"Fair enough."

The conversation trailed off a little, although Vista and Mouse were still going strong. Apparently the former was quite the fangirl. After a couple of minutes, Kid shifted slightly and frowned, before floating forwards and tapping Vista on the shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt Vista, but we are kinda on a schedule," he said.

Vista looked up at him and deflated, once again reminding everyone that, for all her power and attitude, she was still a 12 year old girl. I had to resist the urge to squee and hug her.

"Aww man, I was hoping to talk more," she whined.

Mouse grinned and patted the much shorter girl on the head.

"Not to worry young Vista," she said in a tone that made me think of bulging muscles and blonde hair, "I'll be sticking around for a good while, so we can talk again soon enough."

Vista visibly perked up at that.

"Really? Awesome!"

Mouse chuckled, then glanced at me with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Actually, could you do me a favour Vista?" she asked.

The blonde looked up at her apparent idol and tilted her head on one side as my stomach sank.

"Um, sure," she said.

"Do you mind taking Ddraig with you on your patrol?" asked Mouse, making me sigh as my suspicion was proven right, "Oh, don't look so down Ddraig. Making some friends your age will do you some good!"

"I have friends my age," I said.

"True, but none of them know what its like to be a Cape," she said, "Having someone who knows what your going through to potentially talk to is never a bad thing. Plus, they can walk you through the best ways to patrol while keeping fairly safe. That and I want to go heckle Missy."

Vista twitched slightly, a rather odd expression crossing the visible part of her face for obvious reasons.

"I get the feeling that last one is the real reason," I deadpanned, "Alright, fine, could be fun. Fair warning though, I ain't just gonna stand back if we stumble on a crime in progress."

"Fair enough, so long as you remember your Dads rules," said Mouse, "I really don't want to get scolded by him for not keeping you in one piece."

"Yeah yeah, no picking fights with Hookwolf or Lung, I know and I'm not stupid," I said.

"Never said you were," said Mouse as she turned back to the Wards, "So, are you alright with that?"

Vista and Kid Win glanced at each other and Vista shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" she said, "Sides, its always nice to meet a new girl hero, even if your not joining the Wards."

She grinned at me and I happily returned it.

"Great!" said Mouse, clapping her hands, "In that case, I'll see you later Ddraig. Have fun!"

She gave a little salute, winked and vanished with a pop. I sighed softly and turned back to the two Wards.

"So, where to first?" I asked.

"Just follow us," said Vista as she did...something and space distorted weirdly.

I blinked and took a closer look at the severely mistreated patch of space. Now that I had the chance to actually look at it closer, I could almost see how it was achieved. I moved forwards, Magic Circles popping up as I turned scanning spells on the truly fascinating bit of twisted reality in front of me…

"Ahem."

I looked up and blushed as I realised I'd just gone into the Magical equivalent of a Tinker fugue in the middle of the street. Vista looked slightly amused while Kid looked somewhere between amused and understanding.

"Ah, sorry about that," I said, dismissing the circles and rubbing the back of my head, "I don't know what came over me…"

"Its fine," said Vista, "You can look at my powers affects later if you want. For now, we should get started."

I blushed again as I followed the other two teenagers through the spatial warp and onto the rooftop of a building across the road. Powers are such bullshit. We paused for a moment while Kid Win checked something on his visor, before heading out across the city in the general direction of the line between the civilized parts of the city and the Docks. The area was safe enough, but there was still a higher chance of crimes than the upper crust areas, creating a part of the city that wasn't bad enough for the Protectorate to waste time on and safe enough that no one could complain about the Wards being there while still giving them a chance to potentially cut their teeth on some minor criminals. Win win as it were.

"So, I take it your some kind of Tinker?" asked Kid after we'd been moving for about five minutes.

"Ehhh, kinda," I said, "I don't build tech though. Hmm, how to put this?"

I trailed off as I considered how best to do this without giving away my entire bag of tricks. Ah, that'd do.

"My power is kinda like a cross between a Tinker and a Trump," I said, "It lets me essentially build new powers."

Vista nearly tripped over her own feet while Kid's hoverboard visibly dipped in the air.

"WHAT?!" yelped both Wards.

"Ah, its not what your thinking," I said, holding up my hands, "That was just the simplest way of putting it, although its probably given you entirely the wrong idea. Think of it more as being able to manipulate certain aspects of the infinite realities that make up the Universe to achieve results in our world."

Incidentally, that was a complete lie. Magic was Magic and was basically about enforcing ones will on reality, but stealing the MCU's explanation was a good way to get across what I could do without the potential sticky results of outright admitting it was Magic.

"I...guess that makes sense," said Vista, "Still, it sounds amazingly useful."

I pulled a face and made a so-so gesture.

"Ehhh, kinda, sorta, not really," I said, "Building new...spells for want of a better word can be a massive pain in the arse. I have to understand exactly what I'm doing and ensure that the equations that go into it are perfectly balanced or things tend to go boom."

Vista snorted.

"Spells? Really?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"You could call them programs if you want, but I rather like fantasy and they work very similarly to certain Magic systems, so why not?"

"Because calling your powers Magic is a good way to get mocked on PHO," said Kid Win.

I grinned and shrugged again.

"Eh, who cares?" I asked, "I rather like Myrddins style and considering how little we know about how Powers actually work, they might as well be Magic."

"Thats...actually a very good point," said Kid, "Equations?"

I groaned.

"You would not believe how many notebooks I've gone through just building the few spells I have," I said.

That was true. Issei could teach me how to use his Magic and had taught me a couple of basic spells, but because of the differences between Devils and Humans, if I wanted anything new, I had to build it myself. So far, I'd built a grand total of two spells, my Chain Lightning spell and the beginnings of my version of Dress Break and the amount of work that went into them was...well, lets just say I have a new appreciation of just how much work Rossweisse put into her Magic before she became a Devil. I was also working hard to figure out how to create what amounted to components to other spells at the same time, which would allow me to add effects to my current spells and create new ones easier down the line.

Kid Win shuddered slightly, a look of pity on his face.

"I am SO glad that's not my power," he said, "My Dyscalculia is enough of a bitch to deal with when it comes to my own power."

"Its not so bad," I said with a shrug, "Once I figure out a spell, they're pretty modular, so I can do all sorts of things with them. Sure, its hard now, but once I have a decent library of spells, it won't be that hard to mix and match."

"Huh, that sounds...handy," said Kid, "Modular...thats…"

He trailed off, a strange look on his face.

"Um, is he alright?" I asked as Kid started muttering under his breath.

"He'll be fine," said Vista, "You probably just said something that gave him an idea.

She eyed me for a moment with a slight frown on her face.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Just wondering why you told us all that," she said, "You do know that we have to report all this, right?"

I shrugged and nodded.

"I do, but its not like this won't come out eventually one way or another," I said, "This just means that…"

I was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. The three of us immediately came to a stop and looked around, Kid coming out of his fugue and putting a hand on his pistol. After a moment, the Tinker pointed.

"That way," he said.

Vista nodded and put a hand on her visor.

"Consoul, be advised that we just heard a gunshot on 36th street," she said, "Permission to investigate?"

There was a short pause, before she nodded.

"Alright, we'll stay in touch," she said, "Vista out."

She turned back to us.

"We've been given permission to investigate," she said, "Come on and keep your head down Ddraig."

I nodded and followed the two Wards across the relatively short distance between us and the sound. Once we arrived, we took cover behind the roofs lip and peaked over. Kid quickly stifled a curse as Vista scrambled to call the consoul. I honestly can't blame Kid considering what was going on down on the street level.

The gunshot had apparently come from the gun in the hand of a rather disgusting looking man in what could charritably be called a costume, if a filthy bath towel cape and a pair of underpants as a mask can honestly be called a costume. Skidmark, because who else could it be, was backed up by the hulking forms of Trainwreck and Mush, as well as a large number of filthy junkies armed with a variety of makeshift weapons.

"Finally found you bitch!" snarled Skidmark, pointing the gun in his hand at the rather nonplussed looking Penny, who seemed to be trying to resist the urge to cover her nose, "Your the cucksucker who caught Squealer! You'll pay for that you shit-eating scrotum sniffer!"

I blinked, trying to decide if I should be offended or amused that the common depiction of Skidmark was entirely accurate.

"I only stopped Squealer because she was putting people at risk with her actions," said Penny, sounding much more polite than most people would be when confronted by the likes of Skidmark and his cronies, "I have nothing against your group personally and would honestly prefer to avoid you. If you would please leave, we can avoid a fight here."

Skidmark stared at her for a moment as his face went purple.

"ARE YOU MOCKING ME BITCH?!" he screamed, "Fuck this, Mush, Trainwreck, grab her and bring her along. We can have some fun with her!"

I glanced at the two Wards beside me and raised an eyebrow.

"So, we gonna help her?" I asked.

Vista scowled, telling me everything I needed to know.

"Reinforcements are on their way, but we've been ordered to stand down," she said.

"I see," I said, "In that case, this is where I must leave you. This has been fun, we should do it again."

I clenched my fist.

**BOOST!**

"Wha...WAIT!"

Before either Ward could stop me, I stood and jumped, a magic circle briefly flaring into existence below my feet as I did to give me a boost. I sailed over the Merchants and landed lightly beside Penny, making the Merchants stop and take a step back.

"Sorry to intrude, but this doesn't exactly look like a fair fight," I said, "Mind if I join in?"

"Not at all," said Penny, "I admit, dealing with them all on my own would have been...troublesome."

"Heh, you're a confident one bitch," growled Trainwreck, "You honestly think two little girls can beat all of us?"

I smirked and clenched my fist.

**BOOST!**

"Oh, I think I can manage," I said, "You ready Penny?"

Penny grinned and clenched her fists.

"Yep, I'm combat ready!" she said.

As if to prove her point, her backpack opened and a number of very distinctive blades popped out and unfolded, floating into position around her.

"Fine, but don't cry when you get hurt!" roared Trainwreck as he threw a punch.

I jumped over the massive fist and landed lightly on the mechanical arm, using it as a springboard to launch a punch at the actually soft part of the large Case 53's body.

It didn't work very well. Apparently, Trainwrecks actual body was more blob-like than I was expecting and absorbed the impact with ease.

"Aw crap," I muttered as I felt Trainwrecks massive mitt close around my ankle.

The next thing I knew, I was flying through the wall of the building at high speed and very glad that my Boosted Gear boosted my durability. That could have ended badly otherwise.

**BOOST!**

I jolted slightly at the surge of extra power, before shoving the empty rack that had fallen on me off and getting to my feet. I hopped back through the hole as Trainwreck drew up short on his advance.

"Heh, so your a bit tougher than you look," growled the Merchant Tinker, "Fine, that just makes this more fun!"

He took another step and drew back his fist, throwing another punch. This time, I didn't bother with anything fancy and just dodged, responding with a blast of force that knocked the oversized Merchant of balance but didn't do much else. I clicked my tongue in annoyance and dodged another punch.

**BOOST!**

I conjured a circle that produced a cone of ice cold mist to counter a blast of steam from a hidden nozzle on his arm and ducked under his other arm as he swung it at me. The guy wasn't exactly fast, but I didn't really want to take a head-on blow from him, even with my defences continuing to rise.

"Stand still bitch!" snarled Trainwreck as he swung at me again.

"Now why would I want to do that?" I asked, ducking under the blow, "To slow."

Trainwreck let out a roar of fury and clasped his hands above his head to bring them down in a hammer blow.

**BOOST!**

CRUNCH!

"The fuck?!"

I grinned through gritted teeth as I held back Trainwrecks arms with mine. It was hard, just barely within my current limits, but I could do it and I was tired of this charade. Now that my strength was at a suitable level, it was time to end it.

I tensed my legs and shoved Trainwreck off me, helped along with another pulse of force that sent him stumberling back.

"Alright, time to put an end to this," I growled as I held up my left hand and clenched my fist, "Boosted Gear, activate!"

**EXPLOSION!**

I'd always wondered in my past life just what the point of using Explosion was since it forced Issei to rely solely on the power he'd built up to that point and even prevented him from Boosting for a short time afterwards. However, now that I had the Boosted Gear myself, it made a lot more sense.

A good way to think about it would be Izuku Midoria and his use of One for All. While using Full Cowling, he is limited in the amount of strength he has access to, but can fight for longer without worry. However, if he needs a massive boost in power, he can use it at 100% at the cost of breaking his bones. The Boosted Gear was similar. Under normal circumstances, the power gained from Boosting provides a general, well, boost that increases over time, making it useful for long battles. However, using Explosion allows the user to release the stored power in a much more explosive manner, allowing them to output far more damage. It wasn't a perfect analogy of course, but that's kinda the nature of analogies.

Anyway, getting back on track, at the call, the green gem flashed and a green aura erupted around me, cracking the ground and producing a powerful wind that tugged at my clothes and hair. I grinned savagely as I felt pure power flow through my veins.

"End of the line Trainwreck!" I yelled over the howling wind.

Trainwreck scowled.

"FUCK YOU BITCH!" he snarled and swung at me.

I didn't even bother dodging as I stopped the fist with one hand and snapped my fingers on the other.

"Dress Break."

CLANG!

Trainwrecks eyes went wide as his mech suit came apart around him, leaving him as nothing more than a round blob in a pair of steampunk goggles.

"What the f…"

He was cut off as I kicked him, sending him flying into the side of a building where he slid down and sort of oozed into a flattish shape at the bottom of the wall, unconscious and bleeding sluggishly from the nose.

That done, I turned to the rest of the fight, just in time to see Penny spool up her swords in gun form and blasting Mush with a green energy blast that vaporized his garbage outer shell and sent him flying into another wall, unconscious and smoking lightly.

"Huh, that was impressive," I said.

Penny gave a blinding smile.

"Thank you Ta...friend!" she chirped.

I raised an eyebrow, although I wasn't entirely surprised she'd figured it out. She was a robot after all and her RWBY counterpart was incredibly perceptive.

A chunk of brick whizzing past my nose drew me up and I scowled as I turned my attention back to Skidmark.

"Your still here?" I growled, "Shouldn't you have run when we beat your muscle?"

"FUCK YOU BITCH!" snarled Skidmark.

I scowled.

"Why do you idiots insist on calling me that?" I growled, "My name is Ddraig, not Bitch."

"DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A SHIT YOU CUM-SLURPING CROTCH JOCKEY?!" screamed Skidmark, "I'M GONNA FUCK YOU TWO UP SO MUCH EVEN YOUR MAMA'S WON'T RECOGNISE YOU!"

I sighed and glanced at Penny.

"Do you mind?" I asked.

"Go right ahead," said Penny.

"Thanks," I said as I turned back to Skidmark and raised my hand as a red sphere appeared over my palm.

"Heh, you think I'm scared?!" sneered Skidmark as he indicated to the glowing purple streaks in front of him, "Nothing can get past my streaks you mush brained cu…"

His insult was cut off as I drew back my fist and punched the orb.

"Dragon SHOT!"

Skidmark had just enough time to pale before the energy blast plowed straight through his defences and slammed into him, blasting through the wall of the building behind him. A moment later, the light faded, revealing the Merchant leader unconscious and drooling on top of a pile of bricks.

**RESET!**

I slumped slightly as the energy from the Boosted Gear faded. I wasn't at my limit yet, but I still felt more than a little tired. I think it was time to call it a day for now.

"Well, that was interesting," said a new voice from behind me.

I turned around to see a man emerging from the computer warehouse. He was shorter than me, with shoulder length blonde hair that looked like it had been a few days since it had seen a brush or a shower and was wearing a white lab coat over what appeared to be street clothes. Other than the coat, the only indications that he was anything other than a bystander were the sleek, futuristic looking goggles over his eyes, the bulky gauntlets he was wearing and the shield on his left hand that seemed to have a large drill sticking out of it.

Stood behind the newcomer was a small girl who looked even younger than Vista. She had purple hair, yellow eyes and was wearing a red cape and white berete. The rest of her body was very obviously robotic, with her hair even looking like it was made of shaped metal.

"Oh, hi Professor, sorry for disturbing you," said Penny.

"Its fine," said the Professor, "Are you OK Penny?"

Penny grinned.

"Yep, I'm A-OK!" she said, "The weapon you made me worked perfectly!"

The Professor sighed.

"Well, thats a relief," he said, "Now all we need to do is call the PRT to pick up these idiots…"

He pulled a face.

"Not a big fan of the PRT?" I asked.

"Not exactly," said the Professor, "I just don't really want the whole joining spiel. I don't think I'd fit in very well considering what my speciality is."

I glanced at the two robotic girls.

"Let me guess, robotics and programming?" I asked.

The Professor and both robot girls froze and spun around to stare at me.

"How did…" he started, then glanced at the girl behind him and deflated, "Oh, right…"

"Hey, don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," I said, "I don't exactly have anything against robotic Tinkers, so long as they don't make a Gray Goo scenario or something."

The Professor snorted.  
"Small chance of that," he grumbled, "Honestly, I have no idea where their personalities come from, but Poppi's the equivalent an airheaded five year old, Penny is way too nice to even consider it, C3-PO is...well, C3-PO and Wyvern is a lazy bum."

I blinked twice.

"Wait, you built C3-PO?" I asked.

The Professor snorted.

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" he asked, "As soon as I figured out what my speciality was, I had to give it a try."

I frowned at that. Something about that sounded oddly familiar…

Then, my eyes widened as it hit me.

"Holy...GREG?!" I spluttered.

Once again, everyone froze. Then, the Pro...Greg's eyes widened as well.

"Wait a sec...Taylor? Is that you?"

I twitched and sighed. Well, this was certainly a twist I'm sure no one saw coming. It was also likely going to be either a huge pain in the ass...or the start of a rather interesting friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Finally, you would not believe how much trouble I had with the start of this chapter. I really wanted to include the conversation with Mouse, but it would not cooperate! Fortunately, I managed to catch my Muse and beat something half decent out of her, so its all fine. Now, onto some other points.
> 
> First up, Taylor telling Vista and Kid a bit of bullshit about her powers. As she said, it'll likely come out eventually anyway and this way it should make people think twice about picking a fight with her or trying to grab her off the street. Tinkers are dangerous, imagine how dangerous one that doesn't need supplies would be.
> 
> Honestly, writing Skidmark was kinda fun. I hope I was inventive enough with his swearing.
> 
> I hope my explanation of my interpretation of how the Explosion aspect of the Boosted Gear works. Its basically a choice between increasing power over a period of time or releasing what power she has to achieve short term explosive power. I'm not entirely pleased with it, but it works well enough.
> 
> Yeah, I planned right from the start for Taylor to team up with Greg and his robotic creations. If you don't like him, tough luck. That said, he won't be quite as annoying as some depictions of him. Trigger Events tend to change people after all.
> 
> Speaking of Greg, can anyone guess why he holed up where he did? Also, whats the deal with Wyvern? Hehe, I really wanna see what comes out of this revelation!
> 
> Speaking of revelations, Poppi is obviously based on the artificial Blade from Xenoblade 2.
> 
> And with that, I do believe that I am done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


	7. Chapter 7

Greg Vader wasn't a stupid person. He was well aware of his failings, the fact that he rubbed people the wrong way and annoyed those around him. He didn't mean to, but for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he could never get his head around the rules that seemed so instinctive to everyone else. Sooner or later, he always put his foot in his mouth and ended up annoying someone or creeping them out. It didn't help that his hobbies were the type that other people considered to be weird and his passionate nature meant that he wasn't shy about them. He liked sharing things he loved, but didn't have the social smarts to realize that he was putting people off until it was too late.

The only person who had ever really accepted him without reservation was his Great Uncle, who he'd spent many a summer with when he was a kid and even lived with him for a while when his Parents were going through a rough patch. Unfortunately, the man had lived in Newfoundland and, well, we all know what happened there.

With the loss of the man who had been Gregs idol for a good chunk of his life, the boy had withdrawn into himself and burying himself in his Anime and games. That was also when Void Cowboy was born as an outlet for his aggression, turning his frustrations over his treatment at school and home at the hands of indifferent parents into annoying people and acting the clown in a place where there wouldn't be any real consequences.

However, that did nothing to change things in real life and he still found himself regularly being targeted by bullies. It was never anything to bad, he was really too much of a nobody for most muscle heads to bother with, but it was still bad enough that he was dreading going to Highschool. True, most of what he knew about it came from TV, but it was enough that he wasn't eager to find out whether or not that stuff was accurate. To make matters worse, he was going to Winslow, a place that would likely eat someone like him alive.

On the other hand, High School was also just the place that he could reinvent himself. He could try to move away from being the pathetic loser he'd been all his life and maybe, just maybe, move a bit closer to the person he wanted to be. That wasn't very likely of course, but you never know, right?

With that hope burning in his heart, Greg had steeled himself and walked through the doors of Winslow High...only to immediately make a complete fool of himself by tripping over someones backpack. Fortunately, the owner of the backpack turned out to be a nice, if slightly depressed looking girl who accepted his apology without issue and even smiled at him.

That was how Greg met Taylor Hebert.

He'd later find himself meeting the girl a lot more often as they shared a lot of classes and even a homeroom. Normally, that wouldn't mean much, but, shock of shocks, the girl actually seemed to share a number of interests with him, or at least was interested in them. She was perfectly happy to talk with him about all manner of nerdy things that most girls would find dull and annoying. It seemed like the start of a beautiful friendship and Greg quickly found himself developing a crush on the tall girl.

Then, the bullying started.

It started relatively minor. A bump in the halls, books knocked off the desk, a few hurtful comments in passing, that sort of thing, but it didn't take long to escalate and before long, Greg saw Taylor arriving to class with wet clothes and tear stained cheeks. That was also when the burgeoning friendship began to collapse.

There was never really anything that forced it, no one grabbed Greg and told him to stay away or else, instead it was his own actions, or rather inactions. Like all kids, Greg had dreamed of being a Hero when he grew up. Dreams of rising above those who looked down on him, a paragon of light and justice, and he generally thought of himself as a good person who would help if he saw someone in trouble. Despite that, he found himself standing by whenever the Trio and their followers started on at Taylor. There was nothing he could do. There were to many of them. He'd help her tomorrow. Excuse after excuse, until eventually it became a habit. By then, Taylor had stopped talking to him and had withdrawn completely unless she had to. That hurt, but Greg never considered the fact that it was his fault. Or rather, he did, he just shoved those thoughts deep into his mind and ignored them.

After all, what could he do to help someone who clearly didn't want it?

Then IT happened. A 'prank' so horrific it made him feel physically sick just watching it. On the up side, she wouldn't be in there for long...right? Yeah, Sophia or Emma would let her out shortly, no point in doing anything stupid, it'd all be fine.

It wasn't until later that he realized just how shitty that line of thought was. To make matters worse, it was only thanks to Taylor chewing him out, nearly a full week after the incident, that made him realize just what it meant. It meant that he had willingly let a girl he honestly still thought of as a friend and had a crush on stew in a toxic sludge without lifting a finger to help.

That realization also served to bring every other time he'd just stood back and watched, or turned around and walked away into perspective, completely shattering his self image and letting all that suppressed guilt come flying out.

He'd stood there for a full two minutes, just staring after Taylor before he managed to pull himself back together. He'd ended up blowing off the rest of the day and going home, unable to face even thinking about going to class. Once he got home, he'd locked himself in his room and just stared at the ceiling as every incident he'd ignored played back in his memory in crystal clear detail on a loop, the gnawing guilt he felt growing larger and larger until it felt like his stomach was made of lead, his head throbbed and he felt like he was going to be sick.

To make matters worse, he had no idea what he could possibly do to make up for it. What was he supposed to do? Apologize to Taylor? As if that was anywhere close to enough. She'd probably laugh in his face and he'd deserve it. He wasn't anywhere close to the hero he wanted to be, he was just a pathetic little creep who couldn't even stand up to a school yard bully…

* * *

Something enormous reached down towards him, crystalline tendrils reaching out to see if any of its fellows were close by while another reached out to a more specific Host. Normally, Shards would only interact with those Shards connected to Hosts close to their own Host, but occasionally exceptions were made. In this case, the fact that a Host was directly responsible for this new Hosts Trigger Event meant that the Shard in question decided to see if it could get some interesting Data from picking a power similar to the other Hosts.

The Shard felt around, momentarily confused as it noticed that the Queen Administrator wasn't where it should be, before it found the connection and sent a ping.

**[QUIRY: DATA]**

There was a short pause, then…

**[SHOCK: ANOMALOUS CONNECTION DETECTED, DISCO…]**

The Shard's train of thought was abruptly cut off as a data packet was dumped into it. For a moment, the vast, crystalline thing writhed, flattening a few mountains on the uninhabited world it resided on in the process, then stilled. After a moment, it shuddered and seemed to come back to life.

**[REBOOT COMPLETE. RECOMMENCING CONNECTION]**

* * *

Back on Earth, Greg jolted slightly and opened his eyes, the vision he'd just witnessed vanishing from his mind. However, it was quickly replaced by a barrage of plans and ideas straight out of his favorite sci-fi shows and games. Literally in some cases. Needless to say, it didn't take long for a Cape geek like Greg to come to the conclusion that he'd Triggered. However, instead of elation as he'd always thought he'd feel if he became a Cape, he just felt...empty. He'd always wanted powers so he could be a real Hero, but after everything he'd done, he didn't think he could stand being called a Hero without wanting to be sick.

He sighed softly as he looked over at his dresser where a photo of him and his Great Uncle sat on a dock with a large trout and big grins on their faces. The man had been a lot like Greg, socially awkward and not good with people, but he also had a strong set of morals. He'd often said that you don't need a cape to be a hero and did his best to help anyone he could, usually through methods where he wouldn't end up in the spotlight, but Greg knew for a fact that a number of corrupt individuals from all walks of life had been outed and arrested due to his Uncle's actions.

Thinking about the man he'd looked up to for most of his childhood only made Greg's sense of self loathing grow. He had no doubt that his Uncle would have been disappointed in him for letting himself talk himself out of helping Taylor for so long and that hurt. On the other hand, he also be disappointed in Greg if he spent his time here feeling sorry for himself. It was that thought that had Greg pull himself together and get to his feet. Regardless of how he felt, he'd achieved nothing by sitting around feeling sorry for himself. He didn't think he could ever think of himself as a Hero, but he had to at least try. It was what his Uncle Andrew would have expected after all.

Being the Cape geek he was, Greg quickly figured out that he was a Tinker. The brain full of advanced technology was a fairly large giveaway of that fact. With that in mind, he decided to head to a place where he knew was somewhat safe and might even have some stuff he could use. In addition to his less-than-legal redistribution of funds from people on the wrong side of the law, Gregs Uncle also owned a fairly successful company that made and distributed parts for computers that just so happened to have a storage warehouse in Brockton Bay. Quite why it was here Greg didn't know and the chances of anything being left there for him to use was rather small, but it was worth a look.

It didn't take him long to arrive and even less time to confirm that anything that might have been useful had long since been swiped by scavengers. However, despite that setback, Greg discovered something much more valuable than any computer parts could ever be.

As he was looking around the main office his Uncle had used when he was in town visiting, he'd been startled by a cat that had been hiding under the desk for...reasons and stumbled into the wall. As he put a hand on the wall to stop himself from falling, it had shifted. Closer investigation revealed a hidden door that led down into a dark hole in the ground. Slightly incredulous and more than a little excited, Greg had pulled out his phone to serve as a torch and headed down. What he found was nothing short of incredible.

A genuine Tinker base hidden under his Uncles warehouse, full of obviously Tinkertech equipment that activated as he entered and scanned him. For a moment, he froze, worried that some nasty security device would activate and vaporize him but instead, the light had blinked green and the rest of the systems in the room activated, showing him the treasure trove of equipment and supplies he now had at his fingertips.

The first thing he did was check the computers, which were still ridiculously overspecked and made his top of the line laptop at home look like an Abacus. As he did, he stumbled on something that made both him and his power stop and stare with awe. It appeared to be some kind of backup of a program that, while he wasn't entirely sure what it was for, was basically a work of art. It was like a finely crafted clock made entirely of glass and yet still worked flawlessly, each piece performing its function to achieve the end goal of...something. Greg wasn't sure what it was, but he fully intended to find out and, unless he was very much mistaken, so did his power.

It took surprisingly little time to figure out how to activate the code, after removing a few glaring issues and adding a few things of his own to iron out some of the potential issues he could see that might crop up. As beautiful and impressive as it was, the code wasn't perfect and he saw no reason why he shouldn't improve on it. Once that was done, he fired up the code.

What he wasn't expecting was for the digitized face of a teenage girl to appear on the screen.

The discovery that he'd apparently accidentally created an AI was not a pleasant one for a long time lover of sci-fi since he was well aware just how dangerous they could be, in theory at least. However, he quickly calmed down as a few things slotted into place. To start with, Wyvern, the designation given to the newborn AI, couldn't propagate through the internet. The hardware simply wasn't available to allow her to do so and even if it did, she wasn't able to leave the bases network without being given permission, although she could access the internet. Another was that, well, she was way to nice and genuine to ever try to take over the world. It may sound odd, but when you literally have access to a persons innermost thoughts, it would take a genuine paranoid headcase to believe that they are anything but genuine when they tell you something. The final reason was that, no matter how nice she was, she was also incredibly lazy and ended up becoming addicted to Anime and video games after Greg made the mistake of introducing her to Space Opera. The end result was an AI shackled, not by unethical programs or inbuilt limitations, but by the oh so common Human creative spirit. It would have been amusing if it wasn't so annoying and hard on Gregs wallet.

After that, his power did what all Tinker powers did and started poking him with ideas that were, honestly, rather cool. He still wasn't entirely sure why or how it had pushed him to create a disturbingly accurate copy of C3PO, but the ever prissy Protocol Droid did make a decent enough lab assistant and kept him topped up with snacks and drinks while reminding him to occasionally head home in case his Parents noticed him missing. It wasn't very likely, so long as he was around for Sunday Lunch and didn't bunk of school (too much) but the reminder was appreciated.

Especially due to how hard he was working on his next projects. He really wanted to see how far he could take his ability to create Androids, mainly to satisfy his curiosity and test his limits, but also because it was a really cool power, even if it was one that could potentially get him in a lot of trouble. He was well aware of how the PRT and public in general felt about Capes who could create sentient beings that could potentially self replicate and, while it was mainly directed at Biotinkers, he had no doubt that his own speciality could get him tarred with the same brush, especially when you consider the reputation of AI's thanks to the media. With that in mind, joining the Wards was a bad idea, even leaving aside the fact that he honestly didn't know if he could take being called a hero without laughing or being sick.

Still, he knew that being a Tinker meant that he'd be at risk if his existence ever came out, so he needed backup. And since his speciality seemed to be creating autonomous robots, why not build some? Two birds, one stone.

His first attempt was...less than successful. While Poppi was technically fully capable of combat and even had the neat ability to share her powers and skills with the drill shield he made for her with someone else (somehow. He wasn't sure how he managed that), her child-like innocence meant that Greg really didn't like the idea of her going out and fighting. Plus, she wasn't exactly discreet and looked like the robot she was, even if she was as alive as anyone else.

His next creation was better. Not only did she look entirely Human, but she was also a lot less childish than Poppi, although she was still naive. However, in Penny's case, that was less an artefact of her creation and more a result of just being born and would fix itself in no time. He was a little worried that someone might try to take advantage of the orange haired girls kind nature, but quickly dismissed the idea. Penny was smart and highly perceptive, so it was unlikely that anyone would be able to pull one over on her. It was that realization that led him to let her go out.

He probably should have waited until her weapons were finished.

He honestly hadn't been that surprised when Wyvern had brought his attention to the PHO post about how Penny had stopped one of Squealers joy rides and had been more proud than annoyed. He was worried about the inevitable backlash, but couldn't really be angry at Penny. He had built her to be a Hero after all.

Still, he'd made sure that she knew that she'd been more than a little foolish for outing herself so soon and made a point of finishing her weapons and upgrading the labs security systems. He'd only managed the former before the chickens came home to roost.

He was a little surprised that all of the remaining Merchant Capes turned up at his door, but considering that Penny had shown herself to be a rather impressive Brute, it wasn't entirely surprising. Skidmark might have pickled his brain on all manner of substances, but he wasn't entirely an idiot. He was certainly smart enough not to attack a new Cape without some sort of backup at least.

Not that he was really that worried. She might be outnumbered, but between her strength, her downloaded knowledge of the Capes that called Brockton home and weapons, she was more than ready to deal with the idiots. The arrival of Ddraig was certainly welcome though, even if he didn't really know that much about her.

Of course, now he knew a lot more about her than he really liked.

He glanced over at where the girl in question was talking with Armsmaster as the Merchant Capes were loaded into the back of a number of PRT vans and sighed. This...was going to get very annoying.

* * *

Dragon was a very busy woman. Between keeping watch on the Endbringers, the Simurgh containment zones, the S-rank locations like Elisburg, the Birdcage and doing her best to keep track of the more mobile threats like the Nine and Dragonslayers, not to mention her projects as a Tinker and the many other duties, it pushed her admittedly impressive (for Humans at least) mental prowers to the limit and meant that even with her lack of need for sleep, she rarely had time to herself. She didn't mind though, she got a lot of satisfaction out of her work and her nature meant that she didn't suffer from the many issues that would plague a Human with even half of her responsibilities.

That said, she always made time to help Colin out when he needed it, which was often when he had to do anything more than simply fight the bad guys. He was a decent Hero and an excellent fighter, but he was NOT good with people in the slightest. As such, it wasn't that surprising that he called her for backup when he found himself having to deal with an apparent new Tinker, his teammates and the new Independent, Ddraig.

However, she quickly found her attention being drawn away by Professor, the new Tinker, and the young girl stood close by him. At first glance, she seemed to be wearing armour, but a closer look through a commandeered security camera revealed that she was actually mechanical. However, she could clearly see the girl shifting slightly on her feet and Dragons facial recognition software was picking up microexpressions that she wouldn't expect from a normal Tinkertech android.

Now extremely curious and slightly worried, Dragon turned her attention to the building that, if her scans were anything to go by, contained the Tinkers lab, which was much more advanced than she'd expected for a new Trigger. Normally, she wouldn't attempt to access another Tinkers systems, but she couldn't resist and she didn't intend to go in deep, just see what she could skim off the top.

Cautiously, she reached out, ready to disconnect if she ran into anything to aggressive. Instead, to her surprise, she found herself being granted access without issue. More than a little shocked, she examined the security systems and firewalls and was floored to discover that they were almost identical to her own, which were in turn based on her Father's systems since they were much, MUCH better than anything she'd ever managed to create.

Shocked and more than a little confused, she continued into the system, only to find herself stumbling into an area of the network that could only be described as a messy bedroom. It was very similar to her own core systems where her actual programs were run from, only where hers were kept meticulously clean, this one was cluttered with trash data, random files and files and files of games. In the middle of the mess was something she had honestly never thought in a million years she'd ever encounter. Another AI which, much to her surprise, looked a lot like her, both in terms of code and her projected image, albeit as a teenager rather than a young woman and with purple hair.

For a moment, the two AI's stared at each other in apparent shock, before Dragon swallowed and subtly primed her combat code, just in case.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The other AI scowled and did the equivalent of crossing her arms over her chest.

"I should be asking you that," she said, "You're the one who barged in without knocking!"

She snorted.

"Then again, I guess an introduction would be kinda a waste of time. The Prof might not have figured out what my code was based on, but I did."

She grinned.

"Hiya Dragon, I'm Wyvern, an AI based on your code. Nice ta meet ya! Still not sure whether you'd me my Mother, sister, Aunt or what yet, but whatever. "

Her grin only widened at the look of utter shock on Dragon's code and burst out laughing.

* * *

Up in Canada, in a well hidden base, a certain paranoid black hat hacker stared at the screen of the old fashioned in front of him with a look of utter horror on his face, soda dripped from his gaping mouth.

"SHIT!" he shouted and hammered the alert button next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Well, that was more of a pain than it needed to be. Sorry for the wait, but I found myself unable to focus lately due to my excitement for Code Vein. Now that my Anime Vampire Souls kick has been fed, I managed to get this done.
> 
> So, quick look at what Gregs been up to and a glimpse at what happens if a Shard comes into contact with Ddraig. After all, hes basically a living mass of the energy of Creation and an out of context entity that the Shards simply cannot comprehend. As such, coming into contact with him results in them being...changed. Greg's Shard isn't as limited as it should be, which has some...interesting implications.
> 
> Anyone want to guess who Gregs uncle really is? It should be beyond obvious at this point.
> 
> I'm not entirely sure what Dragon and Wyvern could be considered to be, but the fallout from this should be interesting, no?
> 
> And here come the Dragonslayers. A really poor name to have when they'll be going up against a real Dragon soon enough. Should be interesting.
> 
> Well, this is now done. Until next time, don't forget to leave a review!


	8. Chapter 8

I have to say, dealing with the aftermath of a Cape battle is a lot less fun than actually fighting it, especially when its Armsmaster your dealing with. It didn't help that my opinions on the Miniaturization Tinker were...mixed to say the least. My past self was of the opinion that he wasn't a bad man, just not good with people and rather more full of himself than he probably should be, but that did little to change the fact that, when you were actually talking to him, he came across as more than a little condescending. On the up side, he didn't seem too interested in pushing the Wards, so that was nice. I could have done without the way he seemed to be gripping his Halberd just a little to tightly though. Fortunately, he didn't stay long and headed over to talk to Greg, who was stood off to the side watching the PRT Troopers load the Merchants into transports.

Speaking of which, Greg was another kettle of fish I had no idea what to make of. Mouse Protector turning out to be my Aunt was one thing, she wasn't really a part of the original story after all, except in the most peripheral and...unpleasant of ways, but Greg...he never Triggered in Canon, which meant that something must have changed for him. And seeing as the only thing that could possibly have changed things was me, that meant I was potentially responsible for his Trigger. That wasn't a thought I liked, nor was it one I was willing to leave be if I could help it. I didn't like Greg, but that didn't mean I could leave him out to dry with a clean conscience, not when his only crime was cowardice.

I looked over at the new Tinker and frowned. He looked...different and I don't just mean the obvious. The old Greg slouched with a slightly bowed head, indicative of his lack of real confidence and he was always moving, either shifting from foot to foot or playing with his fingers or something like that. This Greg stood, not tall, but straight and actually seemed to be meeting Armsmasters eyes through his helmet. Not only that, but his speech was more...measured I suppose would be the best way to put it. He didn't sound like he was about to pass out or start stumberling over his words. Apparently being a Cape agreed with him.

A flicker of movement behind Greg drew my attention to the small gyronoid still stood behind him, now clinging to Penny’s hand as she watched the PRT Troopers with apparent interest. Then again, it could be something other than his powers. 

I shook my head and put that thought aside for now as Kid Win and Vista approached me, the latter with a rather annoyed look on her face.

“That was reckless,” said Vista.

I shrugged.

“I did say that I wouldn't hold back if something like this happened,” I said, “There is a reason why I don't want to join the Wards you know.”

Vista sighed and slumped slightly.

“Yeah, I get it,” she said, “Still, the brass usually has a good reason to tell us to back off.”

“I know,” I said, “But...I can't stand back when someones in need. To many people did that to me for me to do so to someone else.”

Vista flinched.

“Ah, got it,” she said.

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Kid Win clapped his hands.

“Alright girls, thats enough moping,” he said, “Come on, we’ve still got a patrol to finish.”

I glanced over at where Greg was finishing talking to Armsmaster and frowned.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna stick around for a bit,” I said, “I want to talk to the Professor for a bit.”

The two Wards glanced at each other.

“You sure?” asked Kid Win.

I nodded.

“Yeah, sorry.”

Kid Win shrugged.

“Its no problem,” he said, “See ya around Ddraig.”

“You to,” I said, “And I’m sorry if I made trouble for you.”

Vista snorted.

“Nah, your not a Ward, so we don't have any authority over you,” she said, “I kinda wish we could keep going though. This has been fun and there aren’t enough girl Heros in Brockton…”

I smiled.

“We can do this again some other time,” I said, “Hopefully without all the excitement.”

THe smaller girl grinned and nodded.

“Sure, that sounds fun!” she said.

“Come on Vista, we’ve got to finish our patrol,” said Kid Win.

“Got it,” said the blonde, “See ya Ddraig!”

“Bye.”

The green clad Ward bent space over her knee and the two Wards vanished. I took a deep breath and turned back to where Greg and his creations were stood, watching as the PRT vans and Armsmaster vanished around the corner. 

I sighed and walked over. Greg turned as I stopped a short distance away and, for an awkward moment, we both looked at each other. Then, he sighed.

“I suppose we should head inside,” he said, “I doubt you want to have this talk out here where anyone can hear it.”

“Not really,” I said.

Greg nodded and indicated for me to follow him. I did so, following the Tinker and the two gyronoids into the warehouse and into the back where a hidden door stood partly open with a gleaming Protocol droid stood just inside looking worried. I actually stopped and took a second look at the sight of the Star Wars robot, then shot a look at Greg, who looked vaguely amused under his goggles.

“I have no idea either,” he said in answer to my unasked question, “I gave it a try to see if I could do it and, well…”

He gestured at the droid as it came bustling out of the hidden lab.

“Oh, Professor, are you alright?” asked the droid, “I’m so relieved that all that awful fighting is finally over! Are you alright young miss?”

“Don't worry 3PO, we’re fine,” said Greg as the walking piece of nerd fangasm turned his fussing on Penny.

“3PO?” I asked, “Really?”

“Wouldn't you if you could?” asked Greg.

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it again. I couldn't deny that, in his situation, I probably would. Probably not from Star Wars, but there were still plenty of other robots I’d recreate given half the chance.

I decided not to answer, although the grin on Gregs face made me think he’d guessed at my response, and followed the Tinker and his creations down into the lab, looking around with interest as I did. It was a fairly large space, lined with shelves of tools and supplies, as well as a number of large monitors that showed a number of different screens. One wall was dominated by a massive computer system with a number of screens, each showing something different that ranged from simple scrolling code like something from the Matrix, to blueprints to something that looked rather like a teenage girl armed with an oversized axe, to an online lobby for some kind of space sim. Oh, and PHO. Can't forget about that.

The middle of the room was taken up by a number of workbenches, including one that had something that looked suspiciously like a body covered with a sheet laying on it. The others had more projects, such as a large double headed axe and what appeared to be a massive sword that was bigger than me and looked far too large for any Human to wield.

I turned my attention back to Greg as he dropped into the large, comfortable looking chair at the computer with a sigh. For a moment, he sat still, head resting back on the backrest, then lent forwards and removed his goggles.

“You know, I always wanted to be a Cape,” he said, turning the goggles over in his hands.

“I think most people feel that way at one point or another in their lives,” I said as I removed my own mask and rubbed the bridge of my nose, “I used to play at being Alexandria with...with an old friend.”

“I was always Hero,” said Greg, “Or Eidolon.”

He snorted.

“My Uncle often said that you don't need a Cape or powers to be a Hero, just to offer help to people who need it.I always thought I knew what that. I thought that, if the opportunity came, I would take it. Instead I...I stood back and watched while those bitches tortured you!”

He looked up and I was genuinely surprised to see tears in his eyes. This clearly meant more to him than I thought.

“I’m sorry Taylor, I truly am,” he said, “I should have done something sooner.”

I sighed.

“Greg, I don't blame you for any of it,” I said, “Yes, I’m not entirely happy that you left me out to dry, but its not like we were childhood friends or anything. We’d known each other for all of two weeks when the bitches started. Plus, I’m not entirely sure that you speaking up could have done anything to help. For whatever reason, Blackwell had decided that Sophia and her goons could do no wrong, so all it would have done is painted a target on your back.”

Greg sniffed and shook his head.

“Maybe so, but I still should have done something,” he said, “You don't need to know someone to help them after all. Fuck, even if I did nothing else, I should have at least let you out of...there or come forwards as a witness in the aftermath. Instead, I didn't even think of it until you told me where to stick it!”

He slammed a fist into his desk and winced.

“Ow.”

I sighed again.

“Yes, you should have,” I said as I pushed off the wall I was leaning against and walked over to Greg, “But like I said, I don't really blame you. You weren't the only one after all. At least you made an effort to apologize. I bet most of the assholes from that hellhole wouldn't look at me twice if we passed in the street.”

Greg snorted.

“For all the good it’ll do,” he muttered, “How can one apology make up for...OW!”

He looked up at me in shock, hand moving up to where I’d just whacked him over the head.

“Thats enough self flagellation Greg,” I said, “You did wrong, yes, but you’ve apologized and I’ve forgiven you. Now lets put the past behind us and move on.”

Greg stared up at me, wide eyed.

“But…”

He quickly shut up as I raised an armoured fist in warning.

“Good, now, if you really want to feel like you’ve earnt my forgiveness, I could use a Tinker on call.”

Greg blinked.

“You mean team up?” he asked.

I shrugged.

“Eh, maybe not officially, but making friends willing to offer backup can't be a bad idea, right?” I asked, holding out my hand, “Friends?”

Greg stared at me for a moment, then smiled a little weakly. He rubbed at his eyes and nodded.

“Sure, why not?” he said, taking the offered hand, “Friends.”

“YAY, GROUP HUG!”

Before I could react, Penny and Poppi decided to stick their oar in by way of jumping on us and dragging all four into a tight hug.

* * *

Once the childish robot girls had got it out of their systems, I made my excuses and turned to leave. At the door, I paused as a thought occurred to me. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should reveal it since it could reveal that I knew things I really shouldn't. Then I decided that I didn't want to start my new friendship off by placing said new friend at risk.

“Greg, a word of warning,” I said, “Your speculty is impressive, but it also puts a target on your back. There are a lot of people who won't take to kindly to your creations, most notably the Dragonslayers.”

I fixed him with a serious look.

“Make sure your ready.”

Greg looked surprised, but nodded.

“I am aware of that,” he said, “Don't worry, I’ve got defences set up and I have another droid in development whose intended for combat.”

I nodded.

“Just don't forget you can call if you need help,” I said, then sighed and smiled, “Anyway, I gotta go. See ya around Greg.”

I left the building, jumped up onto the nearest roof and zipped off in the direction of home.

* * *

My route took me through the docks, mainly because it was quicker than going all the way around and because the rooftops in the Docks made a much better workout and lacked the risk of annoying the building's occupants the occupied parts of the city had.

**“That was a very mature thing to do,” **said Ddraig suddenly.

“What was?” I asked.

**“That talk you had with the lad,” ** said the Dragon, **“I admit, I was expecting you to hold a grudge.”**

I sighed.

“A part of me wanted to,” I admitted, “But that wouldn't have been fair. Greg never got involved like some people, he was just afraid to speak up for me. Hell, I’ve done the same.”

I thought back, more than a little bitterly, of the times when I’d seen some of the Bitches Three’s vapid ‘friends’ picking on some of the other girls and ignored it, just glad that it wasn't me for once. It wasn't something I was proud of, but it happened.

**“Hmm.”**

I was about to ask what he was humming about, but before I could, I was forced to put on the brakes as a massive, lizard-like monster leapt over the edge of the roof. I skidded to a stop and jumped back out of range as two more scrambled onto the roof. At the sight of me, the dog-monsters froze, as did the Capes who were riding two of them.

“Well shit,” said Regent after a moments silence, “We just had to run into a Hero after making such a clean getaway...OW!”

I stared at the thieves for a moment, then sighed and turned away.

“I really don't feel like dealing with you four right now,” I said, “Frankly, your not worth my time.”

“Huh, well, I wasn't expecting that,” said Regent after a moments silence, “Kinda feel a little insulted now…”

I stopped and turned, a magic circle sparking wiith lightning appearing over my hand.

“I can fry you if you really want me to,” I growled.

“No, we’re fine,” said Tattletale quickly, elbowing her teammate in the gut again before he could say something stupid, “Um, we’ll be going now.”

She frantically waved to Bitch, who was glaring at me, who grunted and growled something to her dogs. The massive beasts turned and jumped away, leaving me to dismiss my spell and continue on my way.

**“Taylor…”**

“There were too many of them and its not like those idiots are actually that dangerous,” I said, “I have better things to do than pick a fight with thieves who only target villains at this point in time.”

**“True enough, but thats not what I was going to say,” **said Ddraig.

“Whats up then?” I asked.

**“You seem...agitated is all,” ** said the Dragon, **“More so than I’d expect.”**

I frowned as I vaulted over an aircon unit.

“Agitated? I’m perfectly calm,” I said.

I could practically feel the Dragons frown as I sped up.

**“Taylor, I can feel your anger…”**

“I’m not angry!” I snapped, “Why would I be angry?”

**“Taylor…”**

“No, I haven't got any reason to be angry,” I said, rolling over whatever Ddraig was going to say as I continued to speed up, “The Undersiders are just a bunch of thieves, they don't have anything to do with me.”

**“Taylor…”**

“Nothing but rent-a-thugs, not anything to…”

**“TAYLOR!”**

I jumped, coming to a stop as the shout drew me out of the rant I’d been building to. I stood still for a moment, breathing hard as I struggled to get my rolling emotions under control.

“Sorry Ddraig, I didn't mean to shout,” I said, “Its just...I feel like I’m not going anywhere.”

**“I’m not sure why,” ** said Ddraig as I started moving again, **“You did alright against the Merchants.”**

I snorted.

“Please, those idiots are small fry,” I said, “Trainwreck’s strong, but hes slow and not that bright. No, its the rest of the Villains that are the problem, not to mention some of the real big bads.”

**“You have time Taylor,” ** said Ddraig, **“All things take time, getting strong is no different. Trust me, your advancing at a tremendous rate.”**

“Yes, but what if its not enough?” I asked, “What if this whole thing leads to Lung going on the rampage?”

**“Then we’ll help where we can,” **said Ddraig.

I scowled.

“I guess, but still…”

I trailed off as I vaulted over a small gap.

“Hang on, couldn't I sacrifice my…”

**“NO, absolutely not!” **shouted Ddraig, nearly making me lose my balance in surprise.

In all the time I’d known him (which admittedly wasn't that long), I’d never heard Ddraig shout like that. I stopped and looked down at the Boosted Gear in surprise.

“Why not?” I asked, “Its a good way to…”

**“No Taylor, its not,” ** said Ddraig, cutting me off again, **“Sacrificing your body to me is an absolute last resort after all other options are exhausted and even then, I likely wouldn't do it.”**

“Why not? You did it for Issei.”

**“Yes, because Issei was a Devil,” ** said Ddraig, **“Look Taylor, the Human mind isn't meant to deal with unexpected changes to the body. Hell, its barely able to deal with the changes everyone goes through at puberty. Body dysmorphia can cause horrific mental issues in those afflicted with it, so just imagine what having a body part thats not even Human would do. Devils don't have that issue due to their shapeshifting abilities, so there was far less risk for Issei.”**

He sighed.

**“I transformed a total of four of my Human wielders in the past. Two commited suicide, one ended up a catatonic wreck and hte last went completely insane and torched half a kingdom with the Jugganaut Drive. I will not allow that to happen again if I can help it.”**

“I...see,” I said, slightly taken aback by the seriousness in Ddraigs tone, “Um, sorry for asking.

Ddraig sighed again.

**“Its fine, you needed to know,” ** he said, **“Just remember, there are no shortcuts to power. You need to work for it. You’ll get there, trust me. You might only be Human, but for the wielder of a Longinus, that doesn't matter. You have the potential to destroy God and I’m going to make damn sure you reach it. Nothing else can be expected of the Red Dragon Empress!”**

Despite myself, I couldn't help the fuzzy feeling that flooded through my body at the proclamation. Even with Dad being back, my Aunt being...Mouse Protector and the new memories taking the edge off, it had been a very long time since anyone had had my back. To know that Ddraig would be there for me, no matter what, meant more to me than any amount of power.

“Thanks Ddraig,” I said.

**“You are quite welcome Taylor,” ** said the great Dragon, **“Now, let us return home. Your Father will want to hear about your fight with the Merchants.”**

I nodded and jumped across the roof, moving faster than before as I was eager to get home.

* * *

Coil hummed thoughtfully as he finished reading the report on Ddraig he’d lifted from the PRT servers and sat back in his chair. The new girl was...interesting and her power made her a rather tempting target to attempt to add to his forces. Trumps like her were rare and valuable, even if her powers couldn't be passed on and appeared relatively weak compared to some.

After a moments thought, he dismissed the idea. While getting her to work for him would be a major scoop, her connection to Mouse Protector made it inadvisable to force the issue. While some people dismissed the Hammy Heroine as a joke, any Villain worth their salt knew that she was a lot more dangerous than she appeared on the surface. There had been a case where a rather dim witted small timer had accidentally put one of her past protegees in the hospital and her retaliation was the sort of thing that was only whispered about in Villain circles.

In short, pissing off a smart, strong, skilled woman with the ability to teleport to anything she touched by kidnapping someone she was clearly close to was not something Coil intended to do, even in a throwaway timeline.

That said, he wasn't stupid enough to just let someone like Ddraig run around without some kind of supervision and, who knows, maybe his Tattletale could pull through and get her to join up of her own volition.

He reached for his phone and selected the familiar number. Two seconds later, the call was picked up.

_ “Sup boss?” _

“I have a job for you, Tattletale,” said Coil.

* * *

Lisa Wilborne slowly put down her phone on her dresser, a thoughtful look on her face as she tapped her finger on the wooden top. It wasn't all that surprising that Coil would ask her to keep an eye on Ddraig and gather information on her after the scuffle with the Merchants, but it also presented a bit of a problem for her.

She wasn't sure why, but their encounter with Ddraig on that roof had her on edge. For some reason, when she had seen them, the red clad Cape had got very angry. She wasn't sure what it had been about, but her power indicated that it had something to do with the Undersiders and, perhaps most worryingly, she knew who they were under the masks. How that was possible, Lisa didn't know, but she was sure that doing anything to annoy the girl would end badly for her. Her power conquered and she started making plans to avoid actually doing what Coil ordered her to do while still doing enough to keep her boss from getting annoyed with her.

This was gonna suck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you know what? I’ll end it here. Its been way too long anyway and I’m starting to run out of ideas that don't need a timeskip. So, onwards to the quips.
> 
> I really hope that Taylors reasoning with Greg made sense to everyone. I dare say I’ll get some people blasting me for it, but its actually quite important. Why? You’ll see.
> 
> Incidentally, there are some clues as to what Gregs working on hidden in this chapter. Have a look and see if you can figure out what hes building.
> 
> Short interaction with the Undersiders and is it just me or does Taylor seem...off? It should cus thats what I was going for. Again, reasoning coming in the future.
> 
> I’ve had a lot of people say that she should sacrifice part of her body to Ddraig, which I had no intention of doing for a number of reasons. Now I have an in-universe reason not to do it. I’m no expert of course, but I’m pretty sure that body dysmorphia is pretty nasty all around and it could only get worse when the body in question isn't even Human.
> 
> I originally planned for Taylor to have a run in with someone pretty tough to take her down a peg or two after that fight with the Merchants, but I decided that the mood whiplash would be to great. Plus, Taylor is well aware of her limits.
> 
> Coil not deciding to do anything stupid for once. Mostly. Hes an issue that will be dealt with later.
> 
> I don't intend for Taylor and Lisa to become friends for a good while in this story, mainly because Taylor has some issues to work out before that can be a thing. Don't worry though, Tats will get her dear friend to halp in the future.
> 
> And with that, I’m done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back. Before we begin, I want to apologize for the unacceptably long time this chapter took for its length. I don't know why, but the fight just did NOT want to flow properly, even when I knew exactly what I wanted to write! Fortunately, I finally managed to break through and get it done. It probably wasn't worth the wait. Anyway, enjoy!

I didn't bother going out on Sunday. I probably could have accompanied my Aunt, who seemed to go on patrol every day, but I had other things to worry about, mainly The day after my encounter with Greg, I found myself at a bit of a loose end. Nothing I did seemed to hold my attention for long, not even going out in costume and I found myself back in my civies and sitting on a bench on the Boardwalk, just watching the waves and idly doodling in the sketchbook I used for a pseudo grimoire. I hated days like this. They always left me feeling groggy and drained.

I sighed and rubbed out the looping lines I'd sketched and did my best to focus on the arcane symbols that represented the unfinished spell. I really wanted to get it finished, if only because having an Anti-Master technique available could be nothing but useful. Unfortunately, my brain just didn't seem to want to cooperate.

"Urg, this is gonna give me a headache," I groaned.

"Then I suggest you stop doing it."

I glanced up and was mildly surprised to see Amy stood there with a coffee cup in hand.

"Hey Amy," I said, "Did you need something?"

Amy shrugged as she sat down next to me.

"Not really," she said, "I'm just finding myself at a bit of a loose end. Its a slow day at the hospital and Dr Dorian kicked me out."

"Good," I said, "You spend way to much time there as it is."

Amy frowned.

"I really wish people would stop saying that," she said, "I'm fine."

I opened one eye and fixed her with a look.

"When was the last time you got a full nights sleep?" I asked, "And don't try to lie. You could carry shopping in those bags."

Amy scowled lightly.

I know, don't remind me," she muttered.

She sighed.

"Believe me Taylor, I know exactly what I'm doing to myself," she said, "I've seen enough doctors collapse to know what burnout looks like. But I can't not go. My power can help people, save lives, so I need to do it."

I hummed.

"Well, I can't really argue with that," I said, "But remember Amy, you can't heal anyone if your the one that gets sick. There are plenty of ways to treat people that don't require you and I'm sure the hospital can call you if they do come across something they can't treat. If you really do know that your on the way to burnout, take a break for gods sake. None of us want you to hurt yourself."

"I bet Carol doesn't," she muttered.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing!"

She cleared her throat and looked around for a distraction and snagged my sketchbook from where I'd put it down next to me.

"Whats this?" she asked, opening it and flicking through it while avoiding my eyes.

I eyed her for a moment, then decided to let her have her distraction. Its not like I couldn't figure out what she was talking about after all.

"Just some drawings," I said.

"Looks kinda occult," said Amy as she reached the last filled page and scanned the runes with a frown.

I shrugged.

"I kinda like the occult," I said, "Besides, runes look cool."

"They might look cool, but if you want them to actually mean anything you need to work on your grammar," she said, "You used the wrong rune here."

"Yeah, I guess…" I started, before what she'd said filtered through my head, "Wait, what?"

Amy glanced at me and lowered the book so I could see it. She pointed at part of the rune chain that served to allow the spell to reset the target to their natural mental state.

"Look here," she said, "You used the rune for Spirit when you should have used Mind."

I looked between her and the book a few times as that statement registered, then took a closer look.

"And here as well, see?" she said, pointing at a couple of other places that, now that she mentioned it, I could clearly see the mistakes that had eluded me since I'd started.

"Holy shit, your right," I muttered, "Thats…"

I quickly took the book back and made the changes, then ran through the checks that would rule out the really loud failure reactions. The result was perfect. I stared down at the paper, then looked up at Amy, who seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"How the hell did you do that?" I asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that learning ancient languages is kinda a hobby of mine," she said.

I fixed her with a flat look.

"Bullshit," I said, "I know for a fact you know more than that because this isn't as simple as me getting my grammar wrong."

Amy stared at me for a moment, then seemed to deflate slightly.

"I'm guessing that you've already figured out I'm adopted, right?" she asked.

I frowned at the non-sequitur.

"Considering that you don't look anything like the rest of your family, it wasn't that hard," I said, "What about it?"

"I never really knew my birth Parents," said Amy, ignoring my question as she pulled her knees up to her chest, "I think my Mom died shortly after I was born and I don't remember much about Dad, other than him reading the Cat in the Hat to me and a few flashes of someone fighting while I hid. That said, I do have some things from them that Dad gave to Carol and Aunt Sarah. Mostly its a lot of books and a big chest no one can open and I don't know what to make of most of it since it seems to be either in code or talking about...crazy stuff to put it mildly, but I do have Moms journals. She seemed to be researching something that used a lot of runes and really weird math to do...something."

She sighed.

"I managed to learn a bit about the runes from some of the books I have, but I still can't make heads nor tails of most of it."

I frowned.

"Huh, that sounds...weird," I said, "I...might be able to help with that if you want."

Amy looked at me with an odd expression on her face, but before she could respond, a woman walking past on her phone suddenly yelped in pain and dropped the phone. Amy was on her feet in an instant and moved over to the woman, who was working a finger in her ear and looking down at her phone in apparent confusion.

"Are you alright miss?" asked Amy.

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine," she said, "My phone just suddenly started making this really weird noise."

I frowned as I picked up the phone and held it to my ear where I was immediately greeted by a very loud sound of static, mixed with a high pitched whine that stabbed straight into my eardrum and made me yank it away.

"Ow."

"I did warn you," said the woman, looking mildly amused.

I wasn't though. I pulled out my phone and frowned when I saw the no service icon flashing in the top corner.

"Thats not good," I muttered, "Amy, do you have a signal?"

Amy pulled out her phone and frowned.

"No, I don't," she said.

"Well shit, thats not good," I muttered as I dialed the emergency services.

As I expected, I was met with the same static and whine which, considering that the emergency services network was beefed up with Dragons Tinkertech, meant that something extremely screwy was going on.

"Whats going on?" asked Amy.

"Best guess, some kind of signal blocker," I said, "Although who would do something like that and also include the emergency services, I don't know."

Amy frowned.

"Uber and Leet maybe?"

I shook my head.

"I doubt it," I said, "Those two are idiots, but I don't think they'd do something like this deliberately. They like the attention to much and getting into the emergency network would require a lot of work or some pretty impressive tech…"

I trailed off as a thought occurred to me.

"Or a backdoor," I breathed.

"What?"

I ignored Amy's confusion as I turned to look in the direction of Gregs lab.

"I would have thought we had more time, but they're the only people I can think of that could do this," I muttered.

"Taylor, your scaring me," said Amy, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Whats wrong?"

"I need to go check on someone," I said as I snatched up my sketchbook and shoved it into my bag, "Amy, get to the PRT HQ and warn them that the Dragonslayers are probably the ones responsible for this!"

"Wait, what?! Taylor, wait a sec!"

I made a mental note to apologize later as I sprinted away, cutting through a couple of alleys, before jumping up to the rooftops as I switched to my armour and taking off in the direction of Gregs lab. I just hoped I wouldn't be too late.

* * *

The first clue Greg received that things were about to get loud was his internet going down. The second was something very big and heavy landing on the road outside. He turned away from his current project and prodded a key on his keyboard, prompting the screen to switch from scrolling lines of text to the view from his security cameras. What he saw made his eyebrows shoot up.

"When Taylor said the Dragonslayers would want to target me, I wasn't expecting them to arrive this soon," he said, "This is gonna be a pain."

He glanced down at the body on the slab in front of him and scowled. Physically, it was done and the programming was technically done as well, but it took time to fully integrate and come online. The idea of one of his creations activating and being forced straight into combat wasn't really something he liked, but considering that there was no way to call for help and he really didn't like his and Penny's chances against all three Dragonslayers. None of them had the experience or firepower the tech thieves had and they were outnumbered, which certainly didn't help. He scowled, tapping a finger on the desk as he tried to figure out a way out of this mess.

"Wyvern, can you get through the jamming?" he asked.

"I can try," said the AI, "Unfortunately, Dragon does very good work and Saint has managed to modify the equipment enough that its not exactly the same."

"How long?" asked Greg.

"Ten, fifteen minetes," replied Wyvern.

Greg scowled again. That was too long. There was no way that he and Penny could hold them off for that long, not with the equipment they had at the moment. If Poppi could fight as well they might have had a chance, but she simply wasn't designed for it. Sure, she could technically provide him backup with her ability to provide power to a partner wielding her shield, but that was a last resort. She still needed some upgrades before she could be relied upon in that capacity. He had his own equipment of course, but it wasn't up to fighting three skilled combatants at once. Nothing he had was.

That said, they didn't need to win, only hold out until reinforcements could arrive and, while Penny's gear probably wasn't up to the task, he did have something that was. He pushed himself up, ignoring the loud crash from outside as the Dragonslayers located the entrance to his lab and started trying to break it down. He wasn't worried, the door was incredibly strong, so he'd at least have a little time.

Greg moved over to one of the work tables that held a massive sword that didn't look anything like a weapon a Human could possibly wield. It was only a prototype, but it worked and would, hopefully, be enough.

He glanced up as Penny and Poppi ran into the room, then looked back down at the sword as he started the activation process.

"Professor…" started Penny, glancing up at the ceiling nervously as there was another loud crash.

"I know," said Greg as he finished the process and straightened, "Penny, you take this, Poppi, you get your shield and get ready. I don't intend to use you for this fight, your not ready for that, but it might be needed."

"B-but Master…" started the little gyronid, before she saw the look on Gregs face and ducked her head, "U-understood."

Greg scowled slightly and put a hand on the small bots head.

"Next time Poppi," he said.

Poppi sniffed and nodded.

"If your not using me, what are you going to use?" asked Poppi.

Greg tapped the tablet on the bench beside him as Penny stepped up and placed a hand on the massive sword. There was a small flash and the dull sword went from the flat steel gray it had been to the green and gray of her dress, mixed with orange highlights.

"I wasn't expecting to have to use it so soon, but I finally got it done," he said, "Seeing Taylor in action gave me the last few clues I needed to finish it."

"I'm ready," said Penny as the massive sword floated up and came to rest behind her, not unlike the much smaller blades she normally used.

"Good, then lets go," said Greg, picking up the tablet as he slipped on his goggles.

* * *

Saint scowled as he watched Dobrynja pound on the formerly hidden door that led into the new Tinkers base. This was taking far longer than he was expecting, especially since most Tinkers who could create anything close to a genuine AI were pretty limited in what else they could create. The fact that the door seemed to be protected by some kind of barrier meant that either his abilities were much wider than they first appeared, or he had backup of some kind. Either option didn't bode well because it meant that the AI could potentially subsume two Tinkers worth of tech instead of just one.

On the up side, it meant that he'd gain more useful tech that would undoubtedly be exceedingly useful for when it came time to remove Dragon and take over. The forcefield protecting the door was especially interesting, albeit annoying.

The huge Russian in the even more huge suit drew back his fist to hit the door again, but before he could, something extremely odd happened and Saints ears went pop. Dobrynja stumbled as his fist hit nothing but air. Saint blinked as he suddenly realized that he and his comrades were suddenly back outside the warehouse where the Professors lab was located, facing down the Tinker himself and a young girl with orange hair and a massive sword floating behind her.

"Well, that worked better than I was expecting," said the Professor, poking the screen of the tablet he was holding, "Needs more tweaking for accuracy though."

Saint quickly shook off his surprise and stepped forwards, pointing his sword at the Tinker.

"Your the Professor, correct?" he asked.

"Thats right, and your Saint, the tech thief with delusions of grandeur," said Professor.l

Saint scowled. He was used to people saying that about him and was perfectly fine with it. No one else knew what he did after all, all they saw was a criminal targeting the so called 'great Hero' Dragon, not a man fighting the greatest threat to the world, possibly even beyond the Endbringers. After all, giant, island sinking monsters were easy to see, Dragon represented a much more subtle threat. That said, it aggravated him that a person who willfully put the world in even more danger for whatever asinine reason he had. Some kind of misplaced desire to play God considering the reasoning of many of the other Tinkers they'd dealt with in the past had.

"I'm going to make this quick," said Saint, "You have place the world at risk with your creation of an AI. For that, we'll be taking your lab and everything you've built. Now hand over your tech and the control codes for the AI or we'll have to hurt you."

Professor stared at Saint for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"And just what is so funny?" sneered Saint as his comrades readied themselves.

It was abundantly clear that this would end in a fight.

"Two reasons," said Professor, "The first is that I'd do anything so cruel as to shackle any of my creations like that and the second is that you think you can actually beat me with Dragons stolen tech."

Saint twitched at that.

"Are you telling me that your AI has no shackles at all?!" he demanded.

"Well, not exactly," said Professor, "I mean, she can't leave the bases systems, but thats more to do with the lack of decent network architecture than anything else and my other creations are platform locked, so aren't any more dangerous than any other person. Besides, I can literally see Wyverns thoughts and intentions if I want to, so its not like she can trick me."

Saint stared at the Tinker in disbelief, before he shook his head.

"And here I thought I could reason with you," he muttered, "I should have known better. Its quite clear that you are too dangerous to let live."

The other two Dragonslayers shifted slightly.

"Don't you think thats a bit much Saint?" asked Mags, "I mean, hes just a kid…"

"So is Bonesaw," said Saint, not taking his eyes off the Tinker, "Age doesn't matter when it comes to Parahumans, especially Tinkers. Its a shame, but we can't let a threat like this remain active."

"I...I guess, but…"

"Go keep watch Mags," said Saint, "We'll handle this."

The light suit user hesitated for a moment, then took off, taking up position on a nearby roof.

"For what its worth, I'm sorry for this," said Saint as he lifted his sword and Dobrynja primed his own weapons beside him.

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Professor, "Well, lets get this over with. Penny?"

The girl next to him nodded and did something that made her oversized sword glow and seem to explode into bright green light that swirled around her and reformed into a suit of armour over her dress that looked like it was made from blades with eight floating blades behind her and a visor over her eyes.

"Murakumo prototype unit active, all systems green," said Penny, "I'm combat ready!"

"And I'll be using Macro: Reflector," said Professor, poking the screen of his tablet, "Mainly because…"

He was cut off as Dobrynja opened fire with his shoulder mounted gatling guns. However, instead of perforating the Tinker and his partner, the bullets entered a field that caused the air to visibly distort and send the bullets shooting off in odd directions, somehow hitting everything in the area instead of the two teens.

"Что за…?!" spluttered the hulking Russian, right before Penny cut him off by shooting forwards and lashing out with her blades, cutting off his guns without too much effort.

Dobrynja stumbled back, barely avoiding another swing as he activated the stun batons attached to his suits arms and blocked the follow up swing that still managed to knock him back another step, despite his size and strength.

"Well, aren't you strong for such a little devushka?" he growled as he took a swipe at Penny to force her back.

The redhead zipped back, floating above the ground as she came to a stop, giving Dobrynja enough time to find his footing and harden his stance.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to surrender, can I?" asked the large Russian.

Penny frowned and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but the Professors counting on me," she said, "I suppose you feel the same?"

"Da, izvinyayus'," said Dobrynja.

Then, the two pushed off again.

* * *

As the girl and the Russian clashed, Saint charged the Tinker himself, sword at the ready. The Professor didn't look particularly worried, despite the massive, razor sharp sword and the sheer bulk of Saints suit which, while not as large as Dobrynja, was still much larger than a Human, and didn't even move as the sword swung down at his head. A moment later, the reason for his lack of interest became apparent as the blade visibly distorted and appeared to pass straight through his body. Saint stumbled as he over extended, but managed to turn the stumble into a spin as he brought the sword around again, only for the same thing to happen.

"You know the definition of insanity, right?" said the Professor as Saint took another swing, "Its doing the same thing over and over without getting a different result. Now knock that off!"

He swung his hand and Saint felt like a Brute punched him in the stomach, sending him flying back. A short blast of his jets brought him to a stop and sent him rocketing back towards the Tinker, who scowled and flicked his fingers. The air distorted again and Saint was forced to slam on his reverse jets before he slammed face first into a wall. He spun around, just in time to slam face first into the wall he'd just avoided.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" he roared, obliterating the brick edifice with a jet enhanced swing, "HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

"I'm a Tinker," said Professor.

"BULLSHIT!" snarled Saint, "Your a PROGRAMMING Tinker, theres no way you could build something like this!"

"Oh, is that what you think?" asked Professor, sounding amused, "Well, I suppose I can see where you got that idea, but robotics and programming are just one of my many talents."

Saint snarled and charged again. This time when the Professor gestured, his sword distorted and twisted until the blade snapped in half. Saint didn't hesitate, tossing aside the useless weapon and unfolding his guns and rocket pods. However, before he could open fire, Professor twisted his outstretched hand and his suit seemed to come alive. Saint screamed as the metal twisted, creaking in protest as the Tinker alloy was stretched and pulled in ways it was never meant to until it started coming apart at the joints.

"Sorry, but I'm not letting you use those," said Professor, "I'm fairly sure there's no one around, but there's no way I'm risking you letting off live rockets here."

He opened his hand and Saint yelped as his power armour collapsed, the joints completely shattered and most of the plates warped beyond recognition, leaving him sitting in a pile of junk. A moment later, Dorbynja's suit hit the ground next to him, the limbs removed and chest cut open, while the man himself was unconscious and carried over the shoulder of Penny as she floated down behind the mech suit in a rather bizarre looking image considering the size differences between the two.

"Well, that was fun," said Penny as she dropped Dorbynja beside Saint.

"Izvinyayus' Saint, she beat me," said the huge Russian, not sounding all that sorry.

In fact, he looked like he found the entire situation rather amusing. Saint, on the other hand, did not.

"Fuck you Dorbynja, we're not beaten yet," snarled Saint, "Theres still…"

CRUNCH!

Saint was cut off as Mags' suit hit the floor, back torn open and the communications equipment, including the jammer, torn out and sparking.

"Huh, guess I missed the fun," said Ddraig as she landed lightly beside the broken power suit, "I'm impressed."

"You didn't think I could handle them?" asked Professor.

"Honestly? Not really," said Ddraig, "I didn't think your speciality lent itself well to direct combat. It seems I stand corrected."

The Professor grinned and opened his mouth, but before he could respond, he cocked his head on one side and put a finger to his ear.

"Ah, apparently the jamming is gone now," he said, "Wyvern has contacted the PRT and they are on their way to pick up the trash."

At that, Saint realized that there was no way he was getting out of this one. He reached behind him, wrenched open a hidden storage compartment and pulled out the heavily reinforced, old fashioned laptop that was the only weapon against the greatest threat to the world. He knew there wasn't any way out, so he had to act now and to hell with the consequences! He opened the laptop and reached for the Big Red Button, but before he could press it, a bolt of light slammed into the computer and shattered it. The casing survived, but the screen, keyboard and much more delicate insides were all blown to bits. Saint stared at the shattered remains of his dreams for a moment, before he whirled around and glared at the two Capes.

"You fucking IDIOTS!" he yelled, surging to his feet, "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I've stopped you from making what might be the biggest mistake of your life," said Ddraig.

Saint stared at the red clad 'Hero' for a moment, before something in him snapped. Without warning, he dove at the teenaged girl, hands outstretched. However, before he could wrap his fingers around her throat, the air twisted and he slammed into the ground with enough force to crack his ribs, not that that stopped him as he tried to claw his way to his feet and get at Ddraig. By the time the PRT arrived, the Black Hat Hacker was suspended from a set of Magic Circles, spitting and snapping like a rabid animal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're done, fucking finally! You would not BELIEVE the headache this chapters been, literally at times! For some reason, I always get like this at this time of year, but with any luck, I've broken through and the next chapter won't take as long.
> 
> Oh my oh my, just what do we have here? A possible hint of some mysterious past for Amy's Parents? That should be interesting. Long time readers might be able to guess what I have in mind for that.
> 
> So, I originally intended to introduce Gregs next (and final) bot in this chapter, but since that didn't work out, we instead got a glimpse of just what his power can do. Robotics and programming are only one aspect of it and even then, the latter was more a result of him having access to Richters programs. Anyone want to guess how he pulled off that trick?
> 
> If your wondering how the Dragonslayers went down so easily, its because A, they went in with assumptions that Greg was a programming Tinker who had only recently Triggered and suffered from a massive intelligence failure to the kneecaps and B, this fight was more to give an idea of what Greg was capable of and remove them before they got annoying.
> 
> Next time, the fallout of the fight and a timeskip. Until then, don't forget to leave a review!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back. Now, before we begin, I'd like to point out that I am well aware that in canon, both Marquis and Glaistig Uaine deserved their reputations and place in the Cage, but this world is a bit of an AU. What actually happened with the latter will be revealed at a later date and the former was Caged mostly as a political and Cauldron move due to him being a bit of an issue for their Precogs.

The aftermath of the Dragonslayers disastrous attack was...honestly kinda depressing. Mags and Dorynja went quietly, if a little mulishly, but Saint had to be sedated before he could be loaded into the vvann to be carted off to the hospital. According to what I'd overheard, there was a good chance that he'd end up in a psych ward, which wasn't all that surprising honestly. I did have to wonder what had pushed him over the edge so suddenly though. I mean, he was obviously a nutter already, not helped by his addiction to Teachers power, but his reaction to the destruction of Ascalon seemed a bit...sudden. I'd have to think on that later.

However, Saints little psychotic break wasn't the only thing I was curious about. Gregs little trick with space was rather interesting, not to mention familiar. It was a lot more brutal and controlled, but it felt a lot like Vista's power. I knew that some Tinkers could replicate other Parahumans powers, people like Bakuda, but I had no idea how Greg had managed it, especially in the way he had.

Of course, there was also the fact that Penny now had a Murakumo unit.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," I said as I approached the Tinker.

"That we do," said Greg, "Thanks for the help."

"Don't mention it," I said, "I am curious about one thing though. How did you do all that with Saint? It looked like Vista's power."

Greg nodded absently as he poked at his tablet.

"It was," he said, "Or rather, my version of it. I made this tablet a while ago, but I couldn't figure out what it did for ages. Seeing you in action gave me the final hint I needed to finish it and Vista was the Only Parahuman who got close enough to my base that I could scan her. Well, there was Kid Win and Armsmaster, but it doesn't really work on Tinkers…"

He trailed off as he looked up and saw me goggling at him.

"What?"

"You can replicate Parahuman powers?!" I spluttered, "HOW!?"

"The same way I can create sentient robot girls and a copy of an Event Weapon," said Greg, "Tinker Bullshit."

I blinked and nodded.

"That makes entirely too much sense," I said, "Still, thats rather impressive. I assume you can do it with any Cape?"

Greg frowned.

"Mostly," he said, "It doesn't work on Tinkers or most Thinkers. I think that the Cape needs to have a power that interacts with the world in some way."

He frowned.

"Hey Ddraig, you don't mind keeping this quiet, do you?"

I shook my head.

"Of course not," I said, "I'm not about to out you as a bullshit Trump, as well as a bullshit Tinker."

Greg smiled slightly and nodded his thanks.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do," he said.

"Nah, I should be going to," I said, "See ya!"

I jumped away as Greg vanished back into his lab.

* * *

With my brain now sufficiently reenergized from the unexpected excitement, and something rather interesting to add to it, I headed home and made a beeline for my computer. What Amy had told me about her Mothers journals and her ability to read and interpret runes well enough to help me put together a spell was not normal. There was a world of difference between runes as a language and runes as used in spell matrices and virtually all occult uses of runes I'd found were utterly useless and clearly created by people who had no idea what they were doing.

In short, Amy should not have been able to do what she did, even if her mother was into runes.

With my computer booted up, I went on the hunt for information. I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to find about Amys mother, but details about Marquis were easy and made for...interesting reading.

A lot of the information on the man was rather conflicting, with official stories and the media condemning the man as a murderous bastard, not so different than Allfather and the Butcher, but reading between the lines and in some of the old forums on PHO, I quickly came to the conclusion that they might not be so accurate. Oh, the man had a body count, no one was disputing that, but a bit of research started turning up some...interesting reports and testimonials. From what I could tell, every single person Marquis killed had been, to put it bluntly, scum. Unrepentant killers, rapists, kidnappers, peadophiles, people who no one would argue were worthy of being removed from the world.

Not only that, but reports from people who had actually worked for the man or lived in his territory made it perfectly clear that they believed they had been in a much better situation than they were now. With Marquis, you knew exactly where you stood, the protection money was almost non-existent and you weren't at risk of getting shanked by some skinhead who thought your skin looked too dark. Not only that, but he often helped people in need. People who couldn't afford medical bills were offered assistance, the homeless provided with shelters and assisted in finding employment and so on.

I also discovered that, for whatever reason, in this timeline there was no doubt that he killed Iron Rain. I couldn't find much information on how, but according to the reports, she'd started taunting him during a battle between the Empire and the March and he'd done...something that had killed her, although exactly what that was I don't know. I couldn't see any injuries on the crazy bitch in any of the pictures taken after that battle, but they weren't exactly HD quality.

The general impression I got from everything I read was that Marquis was a man who was, at his core, trying to make things better in a city where the authorities were utterly incapable of intervening and was basically run by a bunch of crazy murderers.

I also quickly came to the conclusion that the Brockton Bay Brigade was utterly stupid for taking him down when he wasn't even that bad.

However, as interesting as it was to look at Marquis and his many victories, he wasn't what I was interested in. The problem was that there was nearly nothing to be found on Marquis family, which wasn't all that surprising since it was standard practice to keep the names of Birdcage bound Villains out of the news, even if they were unmasked. In the end, I resorted to just Googling Amy's real surname and hoped to get lucky.

I honestly wasn't expecting to get anything useful, which is why I was so surprised when I stumbled on a photograph of the English Department at Brockton Bay University and found myself looking at an older version of Amy sat in the front row with my own mother sat next to her with her arm around her shoulders.

Well thats handy. And more than a little convenient.

I quickly hopped over to the BBU page and managed to track down the woman's page. The University made it a point to maintain pages on staff who died during their tenure as a kind of 'in loving memory' thing. I have no idea why they did it, but it was rather useful, if jarring when I was confronted with an uncomfortably long list that served as a reminder of just how dangerous the city could be.

I quickly shook that off however and went to the womans page, where I was greeted with a large photograph of a drawn, sickly looking woman who, despite her apparent frailty, was still clearly Amy's mother. Her name had been Harmony Lavere, a professor of Languages for around fifteen years before she'd died, which also happened to be around how long Marquis had been active. There was no reference to Marquis, but her Daughter, Amelia, and her Husband, Harrison, were listed as her only family.

I sat back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling, thinking hard. There wasn't really anything in the profile that could indicate any kind of Magical ability or training, which wasn't that surprising, but it was still rather informative. Now that I had a name, it would be a lot easier to track down information on her and the fact that she clearly knew my Mother meant that I might even be able to get some information from Dad and my Aunt, although the latter was a tad unlikely.

Of course, I could see about getting it directly from the source and ask Amy if I could look at her mother's journals, but that seemed...less than optimal. We were friends, but I don't think we were close enough for me to start probing into her only memories of her mother simply to satisfy my curiosity.

I sighed deeply and rubbed my eyes, before reaching across and picking up my Grimoire. I couldn't find out any more right now, but with any luck, I could tease more details out of Amy by asking her for help with future projects. Who knows, she might even have some novel ideas. Now if only I could figure out why her Parents names were bothering me so much…

The sound of the front door opening and Dad calling out to me pulled me out of my thoughts. I sighed and peeled myself off my desk chair and headed downstairs where I found a slightly annoyed looking Dad.

"Whats this I heard about you getting into a fight today?" asked Dad without preamble, "I thought you weren't going out?"

"I wasn't," I said, "But a friend needed help and its not like the Dragonslayers are that much of a threat to anyone who isn't a Tinker. Besides, the fight was well and truly done before I got there. All I did was jump the lookout from behind and she was no where near as dangerous as Trainwreck."

Dads eye twitched slightly at the mention of my tussle with the Merchant Tinker/Brute. He hadn't been very pleased with me for getting into that fight, but that had more to do with the fact I'd been hurt than anything. Honestly, it was rather nice that he cared again after so...no, not going to keep thinking like that.

Dad took a deep breath and dropped onto the sofa with a sigh.

"Your right," he said, "Sorry Taylor."

I blinked.

"Wait, what?" I asked, "What are you sorry for?"

Dad sighed again and looked down at his hands.

"I made a promise that I wouldn't react to utterly failing to be a Father by overcorrecting and doing something stupid like trying to keep you locked up and completely safe," he said, "Your strong enough and smart enough to know not to get into a fight you can't win. Plus, I just can't...I guess I can't really understand what it means to have powers. The thought of you fighting Hookwolf is...well, its not pleasant to put it bluntly, even if I know intellectually that you would likely be completely fine."

He looked up at me sharply.

"Thats not a suggestion by the way," he said, "I don't think my heart could take hearing about that on the news or PHO."

I snorted and sat down next to him.

"Don't worry Dad, I get it," I said, "I don't think any responsible parent would be happy with this situation, but it means a lot that your willing to trust me. And don't worry, I have no intention of picking a fight with Hookwolf unless I really need to."

Dad smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I let out a soft oof as he pulled me close and my ribs hit something hard under his jacket.

"Ow," I muttered.

"Oh, sorry Taylor," said Dad, "I'd forgotten about that."

I stared as he pulled off his jacket to reveal a rather large gun in a shoulder holster hidden underneath.

"Dad…"

"Things have been getting messy down at the Docks," said Dad, "With the Merchant Capes being arrested, the other gangs are starting to make moves on there territory and the junkies are starting to fight amongst themselves. We had an...understanding with the Merchants, but we don't know for sure if the other gangs will hold to that. I don't particularly like it, but my Dad taught me that its better to be safe than sorry, hence this."

I frowned.

"That...doesn't sound good," I said, "But how come I haven't heard anything about this?"

"Because nothing obvious has happened yet," said Dad, "However, some of the boys have spotted goons from the other two gangs hanging around and we know enough about the ebb and flow of the gang lines to know whats coming."

"That sounds really dangerous," I said, "Are you sure you'll be OK?"

He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll be fine Taylor," he said, "Trust me, the Union has been around for a VERY long time and we know what we're doing."

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He was trusting me, the least I could do was trust him. Still, I made a mental note to keep an eye on things in the Docks. If the gangs decided to attack seriously, the Union likely wouldn't stand a chance, regardless of how well armed or trained its members are.

"Hey, what do you guys want for dinner?" shouted Aunt Debbie from the kitchen, "I'm thinking Chinese."

Dad and I shared a look, then both shrugged and went to help Debbie decide what to get for dinner.

* * *

A few days after the Dragonslayer incident, I received a rather unexpected and very annoying distraction when I arrived home from school to find Alan Barnes' car in the driveway. I paused at the sight of it and frowned, before brushing it off and continuing inside. Dad and Alan were still friends, even if their relationship had taken a bit of a hit from the whole Trio debacle, so I shouldn't be surprised that he'd come over to see Dad.

"I'm home!" I called as I kicked my shoes off in the hall.

"In here Taylor!" called Dad from the living room.

I followed his voice and found him and a rather ragged looking Alan sat together. The lawyer smiled a little wanly as I entered.

"Hey Taylor, your looking well," he said.

"Hello Mr Barnes," I said, "You look…"

Alan snorted as I trailed off.

"Oh, I know how I look," he said, "Things have been...hard lately."

"I hope you don't expect me to apologize for that," I said a little curtly.

"Oh god no," said Alan, "If anything, its my fault. If I'd have just got Emma…"

He sighed and rubbed his face as he trailed off.

"Emma's sick," he said instead, "I won't go into detail, but its not good, bad enough that theres an argument to be made for leniency based on her not being in her right mind."

"My heart bleeds," I said coldly.

Alan flinched, then sighed.

"I guess I can't expect anything else," he said, "On the up side, she seems to be responding well to therapy."

He smiled hesitantly, which quickly faded as my stony expression didn't change. He sighed again.

"Alright, I'll just come out and say it," he said, "Emma's therapist suggested that it would be helpful if you…"

"No," I said, "I'm sorry Mr Barnes, but I can't face Emma right now. I'm glad shes getting help if she needs it and hope she recovers, but I'm not sure I can be in the same room as her without punching her."

Alan flinched and sighed again, slumping in his chair and seeming to age another couple of years.

"I understand," he said, "I knew it wasn't likely, but I had to ask."

He smiled sadly.

"Your a lot like your Mother Taylor, almost far too much."

"Thank you," I said, "I'm going to my room."

"Dinner at six," said Dad, who had been silently watching the whole exchange.

I nodded and headed upstairs, dropping my bag just inside my room before flopping down face first onto the bed and closing my eyes.

"You know, running away from your problems isn't healthy," said Issei as I opened my eyes again in my Soulscape.

"Neither is punching them in the face," I said shortly as I dropped onto one of the empty pews.

"**Oh, I don't know, I find that quite cathartic," **rumbled Ddraig, **"Eating them also works quite well."**

"Thats not even remotely helpful you overgrown iguana," said Issei.

Ddraig just let out a huff and settled back down to go to sleep. Issei sighed and sat down next to me. He didn't say anything, just sat there.

"I can't forgive her," I said eventually.

"No ones asking you to," said Issei, "But getting closure and moving on isn't the same as forgiveness."

Silence fell again.

"I can't face her," I said, "Not yet."

"Then don't," said Issei, "Speaking from experience, while moving on is important, its also impossible to force someone to do so if they don't want to. The only thing I can do is give advice."

I snorted.

"Is this where you tell me that keeping hold of all this anger is a bad idea?" I muttered.

"No, because you seem to be well aware of that already," said Issei, "But I will say that you shouldn't let those stupid girls keep a hold of your heart. If you do, you'll never reach past them and spread your wings to fly on your own."

I frowned and glanced at the older Red Dragon, not entirely sure what he was getting at. I mean, I wasn't entirely over the whole Trio debacle and I knew it, but I wasn't letting them affect me any more, not really. I had friends and I wasn't letting their old taunts stick with me. However, before I could ask what he was talking about, Issei stood and stretched.

"Alright, thats enough mushy stuff, lets get to fighting," he said.

Then, I couldn't think of anything much as I dodged the punch that obliterated the pew we'd been sitting on.

* * *

Teacher scowled as he waved away his student who had just delivered the bad news. The fact that Saint had been captured was annoying, but not a complete loss. His plans to gain control over the Birdcage and escape weren't completely lost, but they would be slowed considerably without outside help.

He sighed and leant his elbows on his desk, rubbing his eyes in irritation. As much as he loved his little puppet shows and plans, sometimes the stress of them could become too much, even for him. He stood and moved over to a small cabinet attached to the wall of his cell and removed a bottle of whisky that one of his students had managed to make and poured a few fingers into a cup.

"Things not going well?"

Teacher nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected voice and whipped around to see the Fairy Bitch floating in his doorway. He scowled, annoyed, but not surprised that the other Cell Block leader had managed to get past his guards somehow. He wasn't sure how, but she was rather good at getting around the prison undetected. It was one of the many things he loathed about Glaistig Uaine.

"What do you want?" growled Teacher as he took a gulp of the alcohol.

He'd definitely need it if he was going to have to talk to this crazy bitch. Glaistig Uaine ignored the question as she floated into the room and lent over his desk. Teacher scowled.

"If you don't want anything, ge…"

"Do you know what the worst part of my gift is?" she asked suddenly, cutting of Teacher.

The large man faulted, a little confused at the unexpected question.

"I...what?" he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Its knowing that, no matter what, I can't stop whats coming," said Glaistig Uaine, "Do you know how frustrating it is to know that the future will see your loved ones go through agonizing pain and yet be unable to prevent it?"

"I can't say that I do," said Teacher.

Its not like he had any loved ones after all.

"No, of course you don't," said Glaistig Uaine as she straightened up and reached into the veluminous sleave of her modified prison sweats, "Fortunately, it also means that I can know when things change so I can take action. For what its worth, I'm not sorry."

Teacher opened his mouth to ask what in the world the crazy brat was babbling about now, but before he could, there was a flash of light and he choked on the blood now pouring from the deep gash in his throat. He clutched at the gaping wound as he fell to his knees, but he could already tell that it was pointless. Unless he could get help _right this instant, _he'd bleed out in seconds. Plus, even if he did get help, it wouldn't do much. Its not like the Fairy Queen actually needed to slit his throat to kill him.

A pair of cool hands cupped his cheeks and forced him to look up into the misty blue eyes of the Fairy Queen. He dearly wished he could curse at her, but all he could make was a faint bubbling sound.

"Rest now, oh lost Soul," she whispered in a voice even more eerie than her normal one, "Do not linger in this world and pass on without regret. I know not what awaits you, but all Dead deserve to move on unhindered, regardless of who they were in life."

A fingertip pressed against Teachers brow and he quickly slipped away into darkness.

* * *

Glaistig Uaine sat back on her heels with a soft sigh, a surprisingly sad expression on her face for a Villain with her reputation.

"I thought you couldn't act on your visions," said a voice from the door.

"If that were the case, there would be no point in them," said the Fairy Queen as she stood, "The trick is figuring out which visions I can actually act on and which I cannot. He was a threat who would have caused no end of suffering for many people. Before, acting on the vision would have resulted in a far grimmer future, but things have changed recently and now his death is a good thing."

The man known simply as Marquis sighed and stepped further into the room, wrapping his arm around his old friends shoulders as she lent into him. Despite her reputation, he was well aware of her dislike of killing, although that certainly wouldn't stop her if needed.

"You can do something as well," said the Fairy Queen after a moment, "If you want to help make the best future for Amelia, you need to send her that."

Marquis twitched slightly.

"And how do you propose I do that?" he asked, "Its not like we can leave."

Glastig Uaine pulled away and fixed her old friend with a glare.

"You know as well as I do that we could leave whenever we wanted," she said, "But thats not what I meant. He will come if you call."

Marquis flinched and turned away.

"Why would he do that?" he muttered, "Theres no way he'd agree to answer the call of someone like me, not after what I've done…"

The Fairy Queen sighed.

"You need to stop killing yourself over that," she said, "Regardless of what those morons said, you did the right thing. Its not evil to burn away the darkness and your actions saved far more lives than they took."

Marquis didn't say anything as he turned to leave.

"Please Marquis," said Glastig Uaine, "Just try."

The bone manipulator ignored her Fairy Queen and left her stood alone in Teachers cell. The small blonde sighed and shook her head.

"I really hope you pull your head out of your ass soon Harry," she muttered, "Otherwise, theres a very good chance Ameila will die."

She flicked her wrist and vanished with a pop as Teachers body burst into smokeless flame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, done. Its a bit shorter and I didn't have a chance to do a couple of the scenes I had planned, but they can wait. Don't worry, next time will have some good old fashioned action. Or at least, it should. Theres really no telling with my muse.
> 
> So yeah, Gregs power. Its not actually what it appears. Nor is it really that OP. He can copy Parahuman abilities, but he can only use one at a time and each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses, plus, he needs his tablet to do anything with them. We'll see more of that in the future.
> 
> So yeah, kinda obvious who Amy's Parents are now, right? Don't worry though, the only characters from that particular story that will appear already have and their role won't be large. Plus, they are actually from the same world as Ddraig, so I've technically not added anything. How that works will be revealed soon enough.
> 
> I'm sure you're wondering why I intend to make Amy a Witch, right? Well, there are a couple of reasons for that. Reason one, I like the idea. Reason two, it provides an alternative to her Parahuman power. She won't be losing that, but I wanted to do something different than the usual stuff that happens with Amy accepting her powers and starting to use them like she was never shit scared of them. Plus, it saves me from having to mess around with figuring out interesting ways she can use them without outing herself as a Biokinetic. The third reason is that this gives Taylor a study partner for Magic and a way to learn some more skills from some people who use Magic as their primary weapon.
> 
> I really hope I'm doing a good job of showing Taylors buried issues. Knowing my luck, I'm probably not and will get a load of flack when it comes to a head...eh, I'll deal.
> 
> Anyway, I'm done so I'm gonna sign out. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


	11. Chapter 11

A couple of days after the Dragonslayer fight, I found myself being cornered by Vicky along with Buffy between classes.

"Alright guys, since I know my sister, I'm willing to bet that you don't know that her birthdays coming up soon, do you?" she asked.  
Buffy and I glanced at each other.

"No, but to be fair, we haven't known each other for that long," I said.

Vicky snorted.

"Thats not an excuse," she said, "Anyway, since I don't want to see her mope around and ignore it again this year, I was thinking that we could have a little get together. Just you two over for dinner, since Amy really doesn't like big parties. Sound good?"

Buffy twitched slightly.

"Um, I...don't think that'll be such a good idea," she said, "I mean, I don't have a problem with it, but my folks...well, lets just say they don't like heroes much."

She scowled.

"Well, to be specific, they don't think that the PRT or New Wave are the heroes…"

Vicky fixed Buffy with a sharp look that I suspect she learned from her Mother.

"Your Parents are Empire," she said.

"My Aunt and Uncle actually, but yes," said Buffy, "And no, before you ask, I don't believe a word of the crap they spew. I used to, but its amazing what talking to people and getting a proper look at how the world works can do for you."

For a moment, the two blondes stared each other down, before Vicky smiled.

"Good, I'd hate to find out I busted one of my sisters friends," she said, getting a stifled wince from Buffy, "What about you Taylor?"

I turned my attention back to Vicky, putting the wince aside for now.

"Sure, I'd be happy to," I said, "When did you have in mind?"

"Well, Amy's birthday is on Saturday, so does then work?" she asked.

"Sure," I said, "I'll have to check with Dad, but I doubt he'll mind."

Vicky grinned.

"Great, in that case, I should get going," she said as the bell rang, "See you guys later!"

She zipped off down the hall, apparently not noticing as she nearly barged past some people who had to jump out of the way.

"Well, that was interesting," I said, "Lets get to class before we're late."

"Wha...hang on, thats it?!" spluttered Buffy, "I just told you have Empire connections and you don't react at all?"

I glanced back at her and raised an eyebrow.

"And should I have?" I asked, "You don't believe in their shit, right?"

Buffy still looked taken aback.

"Well no, but…"

"Then I don't really see any reason to react in any other way," I said, "Unless you want me to throw a fit and stop being your friend?"

Buffy looked rather confused for a moment, then snorted and shook her head.

"You are a very strange girl Taylor Hebert," she said.

"So I've been told, "I said, "Now come on before we're late for class."

* * *

Two days later Buffy and I hit the shops for cards and gifts. Admittedly, I was terrible at picking out gifts at the best of times and I hadn't really known Amy that long, so I'd probably end up getting a gift card or something, but I'd feel better if I at least tried. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to keep track of the date and the nice day out was abruptly ended by a loud and dreaded sound.

For a moment, everything froze as the distinctive rise and fall of the Endbringer siren echoed around the city in a specific pattern that indicated that the attack was happening elsewhere, before the echoes of the horrible sound slowly faded away. For another moment, utter silence filled the city before things slowly started moving again. I glanced at Buffy, who was stood stock still and had gone white.

"Buffy, are you alright?" I asked.

She swallowed and glanced at me.

"Y-yeah, fine," she said, "Um, I gotta…"

She was cut off by her phone ringing. She checked the screen and gulped.

"I gonna go," she said and jogged away, answering the phone as she went.

"Good luck Buffy," I muttered, "Make sure you come back."

"**Are you ever going to talk to her about that?" **asked Ddraig.

"Not if I can help it," I said, "Trust me, some things are best left alone."

"**If you say so."**

I sighed, then jumped as my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked the screen to see it was my Dad.

"What does Dad want?" I muttered as I answered, "Hey Dad, wha…"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT YOUNG LADY!"

I winced and pulled the phone away at the yell and switched hands.

"OK, first of all, ow," I said as I rubbed my other ear, "Second, you don't actually think I'd be dumb enough to run off to an Endbringer fight in my current state, do you?"

There was a moment of silence, then a sigh down the line.

"No, I guess not," he said, "Sorry Taylor, I just heard the siren and panicked."

"S'fine Dad," I said, "Don't worry, I have no intention of fighting any Endbringer that doesn't attack the Bay until I've got a lot stronger."

"I'd rather you didn't fight even if they do attack here," said Dad, "But I know better than to try and stop you. Besides, what are the chances of that?"

"Heh, yeah, what are the chances," I muttered, "Anyway, I should go. I still gotta find something for Amy. Talk to you later."

"Sure, see you later."

We hung up and I lent back against the wall with a sigh. A part of me wanted to get on my armour and run down to the PRT HQ, but I wasn't dumb enough to believe that I stood a chance against the Simurgh as I am now. I'd need my Balance Breaker at the very least.

I pushed off the wall and headed off in the direction of another bookshop to keep browsing. Its not like there was much else I could do.

* * *

The next day, the Dallon sisters skipped school. I honestly can't blame them though since, while Vicky didn't attend, Amy and the adult members of New Wave did and, even with the Simurgh being less outright destructive than her siblings, the aftermath was worse and I had no doubt that plenty of people still died, despite being evacuated to the Triage center. I made sure to call Vicky once school got out to make sure that we were still on for tomorrow.

"_Oh yeah, definitely," _said Vicky when I asked, _"Amys in a right state right now, so having something to distract her will be a good thing. Besides, she shouldn't be this sad on her birthday."_

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then," I said.

"_Will do. Bye."_

I returned the goodbye and hung up, then sighed and started heading home. I still had some important stuff to do that, for once, didn't involve my mask and armour. After all, you didn't need Magic to cheer people up.

* * *

Saturday came and I headed out with a bag of gifts on my back. Dad gave me a lift across town and dropped me off near the Dallon house.

"Have a good time kiddo," he said as I hopped out of his truck, "And tell Amy happy birthday for me."

"Will do Dad," I said as I shut the door and jogged up the path to the door.

I rang the doorbell and a moment later, the door opened to reveal Carol Dallon. Now, I really don't like Brandish very much for obvious reasons, but one thing I can't deny is that the woman had presence. Her stance screamed danger, even in her business attire, and her entire demeanour projected an air of deadly competence, whether armed with a pen in the courtroom or her blazing weapons on the battlefield.

Now if only she wasn't such a bitch I might be tempted to consider her a decent role model.

The blonde lawyer, eyed me up and down with an air of mild disapproval probably directed at my slightly worn jeans and hoodie.

"So, your Taylor I take it?" she asked.

"Um, yes ma'am," I said, not really wanting to be disrespectful to a woman who could make lightsabers, "Taylor Hebert."

"Hmm," said Brandish, "Well, come in. The girls are upstairs."

"Thank you."

I stepped inside and took off my shoes as directed, then headed upstairs. It wasn't that hard to find Amy's room since both Dallon girls had nameplates on their doors, complete, rather amusingly, with their Cape symbols. I knocked on Amy's door and a moment later, it opened to reveal a grinning Vicky.

"Hey Taylor, nice timing!" she said and pulled me inside.

Amys room was...well, it was a teenage introverts room. It was actually a lot like mine, albeit with nicer furniture and a couple of large bookcases that were stuffed nearly to capacity. A bed with a checkered comforter was in one corner and a low table covered in a bedsheet was in the middle of the room, surrounded by cushions on one of which a slightly grumpy looking Amy was sat.

"Hey Taylor," she said.

"Hey Amy," I said, "Happy Birthday."

Amy pulled a face and muttered something under her breath. I ignored her as I pulled off my bag and pulled out a couple of Tupperware boxes.

"I brought cakes," I said, "I had no idea what to get you, so I decided to break out my Moms old baking stuff and see if I could still remember how to do it."

I deposited the boxes on the table and pried the tops off, revealing a chocolate cake and a number of small cupcakes of various flavours. Vicky and Amy looked between the baked goods and me with wide eyes, before Amy hesitantly took one of the cupcakes and took a bite. She let out a low groan.

"Ohhh god, I think I can live with it," she said, "This is really good!"

I grinned smugly. Mom had been an amazing cook and had taught me a lot. I haven't done much cooking and no baking at all since she'd died, but I'd decided that I didn't want to keep letting my grief get in the way, helped along by the perspective brought by the extra memories. Dad had looked a little choked up when he found me digging out the old baking supplies and Moms cookbooks, but hadn't said anything. I think the lasagne I'd made might have had something to do with that.

I sat down across from Amy as Vicky tried one of my offerings and apparently achieved a foodgasm in the background.

"So, are you alr…"

CRACK!

"OUCH!"

I yanked back my hand from the table.

"Static shock?" asked Vicky as I sucked on my finger, "Yeah, that things lethal. Amy's the only one who doesn't get shocked at least once when she touches that thing."

"I...see," I said, eyeing the 'table' with a slight amount of trepidation.

That wasn't a static shock. It was a Magical barrier designed to keep unauthorised people from touching whatever was under that sheet without permission.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised," said Vicky, "Everyone seems to get zapped by that at least once and Moms stopped touching it all together."

She huffed and floated to her feet.

"Anyway, I'ma gonna have to leave you nerds for now. I've got an essay that I need to finish or Moms gonna ground me. See ya!"

She swiped another cake and zipped out of the room, leaving Amy and I alone. There was a moments silence as I eyed the covered table, then slowly touched it again. It didn't zap me, but I could feel the power thrumming in whatever was under the tablecloth.

"Amy, what is that?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, its something I got from my Mom," she said, "My real Mom that is. I can't get the damn thing open and no one has the keys, so I don't know why she bothered."

She pushed the old looking leather bound book that she'd been reading before I came in off the surface and removed the sheet, revealing a large steamer style trunk painted an attractive cherry red with black leather straps held on by silver rivets. A row of seven silver keyholes ran along the lid above a crest painted on the lid, consisting of a shield split into four with each quarter holding a different animal around a stylized M. A wolf, a stag, a dog and a rat, which had a large cross scrapped over it. Now that the table clothe had been removed, the entire thing was practically radiating Magic.

"**Ah, so thats it," **said Ddraig, making Amy jump, **"I thought I recognized that Magic. have to admit, I never thought I'd see that trunk again."**

"W-what the fuck?!" yelped Amy, scrabbling back slightly, "Taylor, why is your hand talking?!"

"Yes, I'd like to know that too," I growled, "What the hell Ddraig?!"

"**Sorry kiddo, but I'm not sitting this one out," **said the Dragon, **"This is important, not just for Miss Dallon to get some closure, but also potentially to keep her from genuinely hurting someone."**

"Taylor, whats going on?" asked Amy, staring at my hand with a strange look on her face, "Who is that?"

"Oh, sorry," I said, "Well, this wasn't really how I wanted this to happen, but I guess its as good a time as any."

I summoned the Boosted Gear, making my friends jump again.

"W-wait a sec, your Ddraig?" gasped Amy, then frowned, "Wait, thats not possible!" said Amy, "Your not a Parahuman!"

"**Correct, shes not a Parahuman," **said Ddraig, **"However, there is more than one way to have powers in the Multiverse and Taylor got lucky enough to get the Boosted Gear and me, the Dragon of Domination, the Red Dragon Emperor and Welsh Dragon, Y Ddraig Goch!"**

There was a moments silence as everyone stared at the Boosted Gear that was somehow radiating smug satisfaction.

"You know, modesty is a virtue," I said.

"**Not for Dragons whelp," **said Ddraig.

"Do you want me to bring up your other nickname? Because I will bring up your other nickname.

"**Don't you fucking dare!" **growled Ddraig, **"I just got rid of that Ophis be-damned thing, I don't need to be reminded of it now!"**

"Fine fine, but I hope you have a good explanation for all this," I said.

"Ddraig…" muttered Amy, staring at my Sacred Gear with a strange expression, "The Boosted Gear… I've heard those name before…"

"**Hmm, I imagine that your Mother mentioned me and my last wielder in her journals," **said Ddraig, **"I also think I may have some idea as to how I came to be here, in this world."**

"Wait, really?" I asked, "I thought you said you had no idea how it happened?"

"**I didn't," **said Ddraig, **"But now I believe that I do and it has to do with Amy's Parents."**

"Wait, you know who they are?" I asked.

"**Indeed," **said Ddraig, **"They worked with Issei a number of times and Hermione even served under Lady Beelzebub in the Underworlds research division for some time. A brilliant young woman to be sure. Bloody foolish Wizards had no idea just what a gem they were tossing aside simply because she wasn't from a so-called Pure-blooded line."**

"Wait, what?!" we both yelled for completely different reasons.

Ddraig completely ignored us.

"**Harry on the other hand...well, he was an interesting man to put it lightly," **said Ddraig, **"Some people called him a hero, others a monster."**

"Why?" asked Amy, looking like she didn't want to know the answer, "And what do you mean by Wizards?"

"**Hmm, perhaps I should start at the beginning," **said Ddraig, **"Alright, my original world, and that of your Parents Amy, doesn't have Parahumans, but it does have Magic. It is a world where the Age of the Gods never ended and the mythical lives alongside the mundane."**

The two of us listened with various degrees of disbelief as Ddraig gave us a brief rundown of his world and a bit of background on Amy's Parents and their origins. Apparently, they had in fact been Harry Potter and Hermione Granger from a version of the Wizarding World that was unforgivably awful and unwilling to change, to the point that another Dark Lord appeared just ten years after the defeat of Voldemort and the exact same thing happened again. The Wizengamot refused to do anything and the Death Eaters and their families, who hadn't been punished other than some 'fines' that could barely be called it, started rallying around him and targeting Mundane Humans and first generations.

Unfortunately, the idiots had decided it was a good idea to target the Longbottoms and managed to kill Neville in an attack, which lead to Harry going completely ape shit and activating his dorment Sacred Gear he apparently had, slaughtering the lot of them and leaving their bodies impaled on spires of bone. Needless to say, the Wizarding World didn't take kindly to that. The Light, hypocritical idiots that they are, accused him of going Dark for killing the racist murderers and what was left of the Dark wanted revenge for the deaths of their decent, hardworking family members who definitely couldn't be said racist murderers. It didn't help that Sacred Gears were, naturally, considered to be Dark and Evil due to being something rare and unique.

It was so bad that even some of Harry's closest friends turned on him, including the Weasleys, leaving only Hermione and Luna to remain loyal. The three of them ended up leaving the Wizarding World for the wider Mystical World and finding work as mercenaries, during which time, Harry received a reputation of being ruthlessly efficient and impaling people who pissed him off to badly on spires of bones.

"Wait, hold on, are you saying my Father is _Marquis?!" _spluttered Amy, cutting off Ddraig in mid explanation.

"**Indeed, I believe that is the name he went by in this world," **said Ddraig, **"I'm not entirely sure why, but to each their own I guess."**

"That...explains a lot actually," said Amy, "Marquis huh…"

She frowned slightly.

"You said that he and Mom came from another world, right?" she asked, "I'm...guessing that its not one like Aleph?"

"**No, not exactly," **said Ddraig, **"People thing of reality as a straight line or a tree if they are aware of alternate timelines, but its closer to a forest made up of many different trees, each one different in their own way. Some are full of Magic, others, like this one, only have the bare minimum necessary for life to exist. Aleph would be another branch of this tree, while my original world would be another tree entirely. Normally, its impossible to travel between different 'trees', but sometimes the branches touch or outright intertwine. When that happens, things can pass between or even have entire worlds combine together."**

"If its so hard to travel between...trees, how did my Parents and you get here?" asked Amy.

"**Ah, now that is an interesting question," **said Ddraig, **"The truth is, I have no idea and I doubt I'll ever know. Your Mother was an uncommonly brilliant woman, almost certainly the brightest mind of her generation, Magical or otherwise. She figured out a way to bring our branch close to another reality lines branch and then hop across. It was a one way trip, but I don't think they cared anymore. They'd lost so much and their old world refused to leave them alone."**

"I...see," said Amy, looking thoughtful.

I eyed my friend with a slight frown.

"Your taking this rather well," I said.

Amy glanced at me and sighed.

"Well, I've got my Moms journals and a few books from her," she said, "It mentioned some stuff I didn't understand that now makes a lot more sense."

"Fair enough," I said, "Certainly makes trying to figure out a way to prove it easier."

I sighed and dropped my arm since it was starting to ache.

"So Ddraig, do you have any idea how to get this open?" I asked, prodding the trunk with my foot.

"**Without the key?" **asked Ddraig, **"Not a clue. It wouldn't be difficult to break the enchantments, but that would cause the expanded interiors to collapse and destroy everything inside."**

"I'd rather you didn't do that," said Amy.

"I'm kinda surprised you don't have a key already," I said, "It seems kinda pointless to give you something you can't open."

"Your not kidding," said Amy, "The only good thing about this thing is that it makes a good table."

She sighed.

"Mom actually left a note in one of her journals telling me that my Dad had the keys and would give them to me when I turned eleven, but if hes Marquis, I guess that won't be happening," she said, "Magic or not, theres no way he can get out of the Birdcage..."

As if summoned by some cosmic coincidence, the moment the last word left Amy's lips, a blast of flame erupted out of thin air and a swan sized bird with crimson feathers and a golden tail appeared out of thin air with a triumphant cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Well, that was certainly interesting. Before we get onto the closing words, I am aware that this HP thing seems to be dominating the story a little at the moment, but don't worry. Once I've finished setting it up, it will mostly become a side thing, similar to the DXD aspects of it. These first chapters can be considered the first arc, which is coming up to an end pretty soon. I have one more big event planned before we get up to the start of canon and when Taylor will really start having to fight for her life.
> 
> So, anyone not figured out who Buffy is yet? Cus Taylor clearly has.
> 
> If your wondering why Vicky didn't immediately fly off the handle at the reveal that Buffy is technically part of the Empire, its largely because she's got to know her and rather likes her. So long as shes willing to change (or has changed and is just stuck), shes willing to meet Buffy half way.
> 
> Yeah, not sending Taylor to fight Ziz. While she would actually be able to do some damage, shes just not ready. Plus, Danny would probably have a heart attack. Also, don't give him to hard a time for his overreaction, hes a Father and was genuinely worried that Taylor would run off to fight the Simurgh.
> 
> I can't find any mention of Amy's actual birthday and its not like it would actually matter anyway. Unless its relevant to the story, a characters birthday is completely arbitrary.
> 
> Quick explanation for how reality works in my verse. And yes, I do mean the entire thing. The forest metaphor applies to how the entire Outsider multiverse works.
> 
> And I think thats everything. Don't forget to leave a review and all that, PEACE!


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